It’s just a fact of life that some people are better at having fun than others. And while Jerry Paper’s music has never provided a shortage of fun, their latest project, Free Time, is as serious about the concept as the concept is, well, not-serious. To boost the fun factor, the songwriter took inspiration from artists ranging from Sly & the Family Stone to Brazilian artist Djavan, with plenty of detours. “I’ve always shied away from rocking too hard for some reason, but while working on this record I think I started opening up to the rocker within,” Paper tells us. “Thin Lizzy helped.”
Like their album Free Time, the playlist they’ve prepared for us outlining a handful of the artists whose work bled into Paper’s songwriting casts a wide net that happens to include a number of emotional vocal performances that Paper pulled from, pointing to the second pillar of Paper’s distinct songwriting formula: “When I’m laughing and tearing up simultaneously while writing a song I know it’s a keeper,” they share, “and that happened with quite a few of the songs on Free Time.”
With the record hitting streaming services this Friday, April 15, get a taste for what’s in store with the playlist compiled below. You can also pre-order the record here.
David Bowie, “Changes”
Was in a big Bowie zone when I was making this record. Thinking a lot about capturing emotion through vocal performance vs. simply “hitting the notes,” and Bowie is the paragon of that. Plus, this song is just one of the best ever? Can’t be overplayed for me.
Sly & the Family Stone, “Runnin’ Away”
This whole record is incredible (hence there being another track from it later in this playlist, so I'll save all my thoughts), and this song really gets me. The vocal performance sounds so innocent and sweet, and the arrangement and flow of the track is strange in a great way. The record was such an inspiration for me while working on Free Time because it sounds so raw, and I really wanted to get to that place of not overthinking things. Let the wabi sabi flow!
China Crisis, “Seven Sports for All”
Love this record so much. This song in particular is just so fun while pulling at the ol’ heartstrings, which is what I’m attracted to in the process of artmaking. When I’m laughing and tearing up simultaneously while writing a song I know it’s a keeper, and that happened with quite a few of the songs on Free Time.
Mr. Fingers, “Alright”
Big Mr. Fingers fan over here. I love to dance—it’s a central part of how I think about and engage with music—so it felt right to include a song I love to dance to. Early in the pandemic my wife and I were having dance parties, and this was a recurring track for us, which brought me to writing “Second Place” (the first song I wrote for Free Time, also quite inspired by China Crisis in other more amorphous ways) and deciding to keep the drum machine from the demo.
Djavan, “Muito Obrigado”
Another song I love to dance to! Brazilian music is a big chunk of what I listen to—I think it’s some of the most complex and interesting music while simultaneously just hitting me right in the heart. I drew from Brazilian influence with “Shaking Ass,” a song that means so much to me and felt right to tap into the music that ignites me in the deepest way. Also, the whistle and Rhodes lead line sounds amazing in this track—great production choice.
Louis Chedid, “Chanson pour une emmerdeuse”
Been a big Louis Chedid fan since my friend (and longtime guitar player in the Jerry P. live band) Christoph Hochheim showed me the record Ainsi soit-il in the tour van in January 2017. I’ve always loved the guitar sound in this track, and it inspired me to experiment a bit with different ways of recording guitar for this new record. In the song “Just Say Play” I layered DI electric guitar with a mic’d steel string acoustic guitar and went nuts EQing all the lows out of the DI electric. Definitely not what they did when recording this chanson, but the stringiness of this guitar inspired me to play around and find something new for “Just Say Play” and a lot of the other songs on the record. “Duumb” as well involved DI guitar that I played around with (also inspired a bit by Prince’s DI guitar sounds).
Brian Eno, “King’s Lead Hat”
I’m sure it’s no surprise that I’m a Brian Eno fan, but for some reason the only records I ever gravitated toward were Here Come the Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain until the last couple years when I became obsessed with Before and After Science. This song is psychotic. It has so many insane production and songwriting choices, and just sounds like everyone was having a lot of fun when they were making it. Playfulness and fun were a huge part of my process with Free Time!
John Martyn, “Couldn’t Love You More”
This later version of “Couldn’t Love You More” really hits me hard, and felt like a perfect example of vocal performance being a channel for the depths of the soul. I was reaching into myself in a way I usually only did live for the vocal takes on Free Time, and this was an inspiration for sure. Also I love fretless bass—there’s plenty on Free Time—and I love the chorused-out fretless on this track.
Robert Wyatt, “Gharbzadegi”
Robert Wyatt is one of the favorite vocalists (and drummers...Soft Machine Vol. 1 was one of my fave records when I was 15, and a lot of it for me was his wild drumming on that record). Old Rottenhat has a great raw feel in a similar way to the Sly record, and that rawness was so attractive to me while making Free Time.
Thin Lizzy, “Fight or Fall”
I feel like Thin Lizzy is a misunderstood and underappreciated band. Phil Lynott is an incredible songwriter, and this song features some interesting production choices, too. Perfect pop rock. I’ve always shied away from rocking too hard for some reason, but while working on this record I think I started opening up to the rocker within. Thin Lizzy helped.
Brenda Russell, “Way Back When”
To me, this is a perfect disco track. The groove is so steady and fun! I sent it to the drummer as a reference for how I wanted the feel of the song “Gracie III” to sound.
Brian Eno, “The True Wheel”
Another Eno track—I had to. This one also exemplifies production choices made in the spirit of fun. Eno isn’t afraid of simplicity, and I have been in my life so this is a good reminder that simplicity can be powerful! I just love it. Ding ding!
Sly & the Family Stone, “(You Caught Me) Smilin’”
Had to add one more song from this record because it felt wrong to not have one with Sly singing. His vocal delivery is so emotive, and the way the vocals are captured with so much distortion was really inspirational to me. I got more comfortable with recording myself hitting the preamps harder and getting some grittiness, and Sly was definitely an inspiration for that. In all of these vocal performances I hear them reaching into themselves and pulling something deep out, I wanted to do the same for myself. I don’t want to sound like anybody but myself!
