Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Kevin Cole, host of Drive Time on KEXP, is "Tom" by Damien Jurado, from the 2021 album The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania on Field Painting Music.
On his 17th album, The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania, Seattle singer/songwriter Damien Jurado introduces the listener to ten stories filled with characters confronting different stressful scenarios: "hurricanes moving toward town, strained connections, amnesiacs in the front yard," his press release details. He credits his cast-driven songs with his childhood love of films and TV, telling Folk Radio, "I’m still following that line with the new material I’m writing. I’m actually going to be recording a new album next month in June. It’s going to be a five-part album, sort of like I did with [his 2012 album] Maraqopa with the trilogy, but bigger. It’s focused around one person and a few other people, like your standard movie or TV show. It’s set in the past with the main character sort of going in-and-out of his own existence.”
It's fitting that The Monster... is the first release from Damien’s own Maraqopa Records. “It seemed like the right thing to do financially. I want to be able to put out more music at a rate that’s quicker than I was in the past. Most record labels make you wait two years to release something and I write at such a high rate that there’s no real point in waiting that long. I want to put out two or more records a year and I wasn’t able to do that before,” he continues. "I’m most definitely releasing one or two next year. There’s also going to be some reissues as well. 2022 is going to be a giant, busy year for me.”
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Host Emily Fox and KEXP’s editorial team talk with artists about the stories behind their songs and the experiences that inform their work. Through each conversation, we uncover the humanity behind the music, allowing us to hear it in a whole new way.
