You may know Maria Taylor from her work as one half of Azure Ray or any number of other OG Saddle Creek groups from the early 2000s, though her solo career remained fairly vibrant throughout the 2010s as she established an indie-folk sound of her own. Now, after a seven year break (occupied by motherhood, sommeliering, and candle-making, per her IG bio), she returned last week with her new LP Story’s End, which saw her reconnect with her former labelmate Conor Oberst who released the record through his recently launched Million Stars label (Oberst even makes an appearance as a backing vocalist on one track, while his Bright Eyes bandmate Mike Mogis engineered most of the project).
Before Taylor officially ushers the record into the world via a release show at Sid the Cat Auditorium this Friday, she filmed a “Neighborhoods” session for the album track “Story’s End” at her home in Pasadena. Joined by her friends Tiffany Osborn, Hannah Murray, and Sally Dworsky on the roof of her garage, the golden-hour set sees the album opener reimagined from its piano-forward studio version to one built upon acoustic guitar and backing strings. “For years, I would play this chord progression and melody, knowing it would be one of my favorite songs,” she shares. “But it took me five years to complete the lyrics. I had no sense of urgency—it was like I knew, somehow, the story was still unfolding and I just had to be patient.”
Check out the performance below, and grab tickets to Taylor’s April 10 release show in Pasadena here.
