Like Son House, it kinda seems like every Kurt Vile song opens up with some variation of “I woke up this mornin’.” At this point, it almost comes across as a self-referential joke (particularly since he usually gets all metaphysical on us in the next line), but regardless, whatever Vile feels like singing about sounds refreshing—no matter what hour of the day he considers to be the morning, anyway.
With his watch all wound up and ready to go, Vile has readied b’lieve i’m goin down…, his sixth LP, which was recorded in various spots across the country, from Brooklyn to Athens to Joshua Tree. Vile has described the album as having “that night vibe,” and referred to it as “[his] sequel to Donald Fagen’s The Nightfly.”
First up is the album opener “Pretty Pimpin,” a bright choogler that is distinctly KV, and has been shared along with a video chronicling the many minds (and bodies) of the Pennsylvania native as he goes through a day across various spots in LA (including what I’m pretty sure is the same Echo Park alley used in the Tom Waits video for “In the Neighborhood”).
Along with the all the news, “longtime fan” Kim Gordon was cited in a statement about the upcoming album:
Kurt does his own myth-making; a boy/man with an old soul voice in the age of digital everything becoming something else, which is why this focused, brilliantly clear and seemingly candid record is a breath of fresh air. Recorded and mixed in a number of locations, including Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, b’lieve i’m goin down… is a handshake across the country, east to west coast, thru the dustbowl history (“valley of ashes”) of woody honest strait forward talk guthrie, and a cali canyon dead still nite floating in a nearly waterless landscape. The record is all air, weightless, bodyless, but grounded in convincing authenticity, in the best version of singer songwriter upcycling.
Starting in October, Vile will be all over the US in support of the album with Waxahatchee providing support on a few dates. In addition to the album art and track listing, those dates are below.
b’lieve i’m goin down… track list
1. Pretty Pimpin
2. I’m an Outlaw
3. Dust Bunnies
4. That’s Life, tho (almost hate to say)
5. Wheelhouse
6. Life Like This
7. All in a Daze Work
8. Lost My Head there
9. Stand Inside
10. Bad Omens
11. Kidding Around
12. Wild Imagination
Kurt Vile tour dates
October
2 – Boston, MA – The Paradise *#
3 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits
4 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits
7 – New York, NY – Webster Hall *#
8 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club *#
9 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer *#
10 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits
11 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits
14 – Los Angeles, CA – Fonda Theater %
16 – San Francisco, CA – Fillmore %
17 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom %
18 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox %
21 – Minneapolis, MN – Mill City Nights *#
23 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall *#
24 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall *#
25 – Toronto, Ontario – Phoenix Theatre *#
* = with Waxahatchee
# = with Luke Roberts
% = with Cass McCombs and Heron Oblivion
b’lieve i’m goin down… is out September 25 via Matador Records.
