A lot has happened since Crystal Stilts’ Kyle Forester dropped his first solo album in 2016—much of which has to do with his busy touring schedules as a member of Woods’ live jam band, as well as the Purple Mountains live collective that never got a chance to spread its wings. With this newfound passion for collaboration, though, Forester has recorded a follow-up to his self-titled debut, which seems him working with his own dream team of a hired band, including production from Woods’ Jarvis Taveniere and harp contributions from Mary Lattimore.
Today Forester is sharing the second single from his forthcoming Hearts in Gardens, which is a hushed experimental number that sounds less like the dense heartland rock of The War on Drugs than the first. “Marigold” instead smears a number of surprising instrumentals together to form a hazy, psychedelic pastiche of sounds to accompany his acoustic guitar.
“You know, sometimes you open a door and there’s something behind it more beautiful than you could have imagined,” Forester shares cryptically of the track, before offering details on the recording. “The little guitar figure is the kind of thing I play on my acoustic guitar by myself at home all day. Had a lot of fun with this one in the studio, putting tons of Oberheim synthesizer and trombone on the end. Oh, and also, with this one, just doing my part to keep 3/4 time alive.”
Hearts in Gardens is out February 21—pre-order it here, and catch Kyle on March 14 at Brooklyn’s Sultan Room for the release show.
