You’d need to assume We’re Solely Human (Hwy 87/Thirty Tigers) represents a crossroads for Hayes Carll. Because the title implies, album quantity eight is Carll’s most susceptible and clear to this point—and that’s saying lots for a storyteller along with his monitor file for honesty. Immersed within the self-effacing Texas singer/songwriter custom, his finest work doesn’t bowl you over a lot as reel you in a single relatable element at a time.
Carll has a historical past of being refreshingly matter of reality about his personal strengths and weaknesses. That development continues whereas talking with MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland.
It’s been 4 years between albums for you after a interval that noticed you launch three LPs in three years. How was the writing and recording course of completely different for We’re Solely Human?
I did a file with Band Of Heathens in between. That was a extremely enjoyable mission and a chance to get inventive musically as a part of a gaggle, which was one thing I’d by no means performed earlier than. For that, the writing was looser and extra about vibe and power than it was about sorting by means of my life. With We’re Solely Human, the lyrical facet of issues was the main target. I used to be working personally to determine some issues for myself after which categorical them creatively. My precedence was to say what I wanted to say lyrically. Then we labored on constructing a sonic world for these ideas to dwell in.
What prompted the principally introspective nature of the songs?
The disappointment and frustration of being caught. I’ve been operating into the identical partitions for years. Concern, self-doubt, self-sabotage, disconnection—these have been my lifelong companions. I lastly acquired sick sufficient of them to attempt to do some actual work. The considered being in the identical place with the identical struggles 20 years from now was insufferable to me. That non-public exploration influenced my writing.
Was it simpler or harder to write down about your self?
It was simpler as a result of I didn’t need to make it up—it’s proper there at hand. Having parameters for songs helps me focus. It was more durable as a result of the work was so private and vital to me. I did a whole lot of it with the hope that these songs could be reminders or guideposts for me sooner or later. For that to work, I couldn’t bullshit or make up a fantasy world. I used craft and energy to say what I needed to say.
You get the entire “visitor artist” factor out of the best way in a single shot on “Might I By no means,” the album’s finale. Ray Wylie Hubbard, Shovels & Rope, Darrell Scott, Nicole Atkins, and Band Of Heathens’ Gordy Quist and Ed Jurdi every take a verse. How did that one come collectively?
I had the track written and recorded, however I saved listening to different voices lending their life experiences to the monitor. It began with the thought of getting Ray Wylie to sing with me. He’s been an vital trainer for me in life and music. Then I simply began reaching out to people who had, in a method or one other, been part of my journey. It means lots to me to have them on there with me.
You’ve been referred to as a songwriter’s songwriter. What’s your tackle that designation?
Properly, it may be a solution to make a commercially unsuccessful songwriter really feel higher about themselves—and that might apply to me. However after I use it for different individuals, it means somebody who’s all in on the artwork and the craft of songwriting. Somebody who has their very own imaginative and prescient and follows by means of on it with out an excessive amount of fear about how the remainder of the world receives it. That’s what I consider.
See Hayes Carll dwell.
