Three years removed from the noisy alt-country of his debut solo album (which was reissued last November by Transgressive after its initial self-release), Greg Freeman returns this week with his second collection of anxious-slacker ballads. Before Burnover drops on August 22, he’s sharing one last single to hype the release. “Salesman” is classic Freeman in its searing riffs, quavering vocals, and country-rock flavorings, all hammered together into the shape of something conspicuously cohesive. “The sax part and pedal steel part just kind of melded together,” he shares, noting that his backing band each wrote their own parts. “It's a weird song, structure-wise. I don’t remember why I wrote it like that, with the second half being a long instrumental piece. But in retrospect it feels like a journey of some sort, which makes sense in context of the song.”
That context is one that Freeman describes as “sad,” despite the upbeat instrumentation. With the title invoking the Maysles brothers’ 1969 documentary about one such door-to-door peddler of goods, Guy Kozak’s music video for the track channels a similar bleakness. “It was by far the most obvious thing to do—which is not always a good thing,” Freeman notes. “But in this case, the song is about such a heavy and real thing, and I think me and Guy figured, ‘Why not make it cheesy and on-the-nose?’” As to whether his dance moves were intended to be part of that cheesiness, he clarifies that no, he just “looks like a fool when [he dances]. I absolutely despise being filmed or photographed, and yet do it anyway. But I think forcing yourself to do things you don’t want to do can be good for you, and at worst a little regrettable or cringe. Maybe there’s a slightly rewarding tension in that?”
Check it out below, and pre-order Burnover via Transgressive/Canvasback here.
