Quick-Change Artist
The full band never even got a chance to rehearse the new material before the session, and Molina shook things up further by inviting six additional musicians–most of whom the rest hadn’t worked with before–to join the fray. They discussed the arrangements in the studio, ran through each song once or twice, and then recorded nearly everything live, including some impressive harmony vocals.
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This approach is reminiscent of Will Oldham, who released the first Songs: Ohia single on his label in 1996. Ever since then, Molina has been dogged by comparisons to Oldham–both look to American rural music for inspiration, and both sing with unsteady pitch. “I think what was great about [that comparison] was that it set me up for a hard time from the very beginning,” Molina says. “I could either surrender to it or just do what I was naturally going to do anyway.” Last year he even made a record with Oldham, along with Alasdair Roberts of Appendix Out–another singer often compared to Oldham–under the name the Amalgamated Sons of Rest.
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