RIOT ACT MEDIA. ALL SMILES. OH FOR THE GETTING AND NOT LETTING GO.
All Smiles is Jim Fairchild (Grandaddy, Modest Mouse), and his triumphant follow-up to 2007’s critically-acclaimed Ten Readings of a Warning full-length (“the most appealing slice of self-effacing poppery since Richard Lloyd first took Tom Verlaine's place at the mic.”), is twofold.
Both his new full-length, Oh, For The Getting And Not Letting Go, and his simultaneously-created new EP, Fall Never Fell (release date TBA), were recorded in Omaha, Nebraska and Los Angeles, California by co-producers Solon Bixler (Great Northern) and Nik Freitas (Mystic Valley Band). Both Freitas and Bixler lent their multi-instrumental talents to the record, along with drummer/percussionist Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse).
Although Oh For The Getting And Not Letting Go shimmers and pounds with brilliant melodies, expansive guitar sounds from gritty riffage to clean and sweet accents, soaring harmonies, stick-in-your-head hooks sharp enough to catch even the most mild pop fan and danceable beats, the songs are contextually complex; heavy with the weight of the dark places we can find ourselves in, but hopeful, trusting.
Fairchild began creating his new work shortly after he and his longtime love moved to Chicago, IL in the winter of 2007. After years of living in Modesto, Los Angeles, and Portland, and years of being on the road surrounded by friends and fun and constant movement, Fairchild found himself in a new place that was internally quiet, externally frigid and devoid of a familiar social environment. As anyone who has lived there can attest, Chicago can be a harsh and unforgiving place in the wintertime—a hefty monster of a town that roars along despite the ice and snow, inhabitants be damned.
It is also a city that teaches its people innumerable lessons, some of which are harsh, some of which are life-affirming. Fairchild was living in a rough part of the city that illustrated, in his words, “…the fracture and entropy that we're seeing come to fruition somehow. I started thinking a lot about how weird it was to be broke in a shitty neighborhood, getting record-label financed computers dropped on my doorstep to make songs I couldn’t afford to record without this weird money coming from who knows where, surrounded simultaneously by people like myself whose rent could be paid for months at the cost of shit being left on my doorstep in the snow.”
Despite that, “Being in love and watching opportunity grow from within my relationships was giving me hope.. I was also moving around the notion that without good strong love and relationships and roots, we don't ever have any hope for improvement. That without love, we can't grow.”
Thus, the duality; shit and shine. Bright, smart chord progressions undercut with damning lyrics, all sung with gently assertive aplomb. The smile with your bitter cup of coffee.
OH FOR THE GETTING AND NOT LETTING GO TRACK LISTING:
1. Maps to the Homes of Former Foes
2. I Was Never the One
3. Foxes in the Furnace
4. The Brightest Beyond
5. The Ones I Want to Live
6. Our Final Roles as Birds
7. Words of Wisdom
8. All You Are is a Human Sir
9. Brother I Know My Way
10. It Never Saves Me
Both his new full-length, Oh, For The Getting And Not Letting Go, and his simultaneously-created new EP, Fall Never Fell (release date TBA), were recorded in Omaha, Nebraska and Los Angeles, California by co-producers Solon Bixler (Great Northern) and Nik Freitas (Mystic Valley Band). Both Freitas and Bixler lent their multi-instrumental talents to the record, along with drummer/percussionist Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse).
Although Oh For The Getting And Not Letting Go shimmers and pounds with brilliant melodies, expansive guitar sounds from gritty riffage to clean and sweet accents, soaring harmonies, stick-in-your-head hooks sharp enough to catch even the most mild pop fan and danceable beats, the songs are contextually complex; heavy with the weight of the dark places we can find ourselves in, but hopeful, trusting.
Fairchild began creating his new work shortly after he and his longtime love moved to Chicago, IL in the winter of 2007. After years of living in Modesto, Los Angeles, and Portland, and years of being on the road surrounded by friends and fun and constant movement, Fairchild found himself in a new place that was internally quiet, externally frigid and devoid of a familiar social environment. As anyone who has lived there can attest, Chicago can be a harsh and unforgiving place in the wintertime—a hefty monster of a town that roars along despite the ice and snow, inhabitants be damned.
It is also a city that teaches its people innumerable lessons, some of which are harsh, some of which are life-affirming. Fairchild was living in a rough part of the city that illustrated, in his words, “…the fracture and entropy that we're seeing come to fruition somehow. I started thinking a lot about how weird it was to be broke in a shitty neighborhood, getting record-label financed computers dropped on my doorstep to make songs I couldn’t afford to record without this weird money coming from who knows where, surrounded simultaneously by people like myself whose rent could be paid for months at the cost of shit being left on my doorstep in the snow.”
Despite that, “Being in love and watching opportunity grow from within my relationships was giving me hope.. I was also moving around the notion that without good strong love and relationships and roots, we don't ever have any hope for improvement. That without love, we can't grow.”
Thus, the duality; shit and shine. Bright, smart chord progressions undercut with damning lyrics, all sung with gently assertive aplomb. The smile with your bitter cup of coffee.
OH FOR THE GETTING AND NOT LETTING GO TRACK LISTING:
1. Maps to the Homes of Former Foes
2. I Was Never the One
3. Foxes in the Furnace
4. The Brightest Beyond
5. The Ones I Want to Live
6. Our Final Roles as Birds
7. Words of Wisdom
8. All You Are is a Human Sir
9. Brother I Know My Way
10. It Never Saves Me
I WANT TO GET YOU YOUR COPY NOW, DIGITALLY. IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE NICE FOLKS WHO HAS ALREADY RECIEVED IT PHYSICALLY, PLEASE NOTE THAT JIM FAIRCHILD AND HIS AMAZING PARTNER, ARTIST (as in, her work is in museums) NATASHA WHEAT, HAND-DESIGNED, HAND-SCREENED AND HAND-ASSEMBLED EACH AND EVERY PROMO PACKAGE. Thusly, as you can imagine, physical promos = limited.
Also, please check out All Smiles' page, WWW.ALLSMILESMUSIC.COM.
Jim is available for interviews, and if you have never interviewed him for All Smiles, Grandaddy or Modest Mouse stuff before, please know that he is world-renowned for being the nicest, dopest dude (he says things like "Dope!" and "sick!" all the time) on the face of the planet.
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