Super Tuesday

Josh Ritter released his latest today. "The Beast in Its Tracks" is almost an overtly personalized memoir of his divorce. Of course, he did meet someone new. This is a great anecdote:

He's already tested many of the songs live and says "New Lover" is probably his favorite right now to play live. It's a song about the demise of his marriage and the excitement of meeting someone new with the lyrics: "I've got a new lover now/I know that she's not mine/I only want to hold her/I don't need to read her mind/And she only looks like you when she's in a certain light."

"I have my own secret favorites that I love," Ritter said of his entire music catalog. "I never remember where I had been when I was writing a song. But I do remember those moments where I really feel like I got this thing right in my own mind, and I'm always proud of those moments -- more than any particular song."

I'm a huge fan of the Cave Singers, and I'm looking forward to seeing them at the Rock & Roll Hotel next month.  A few early reviews I spotted online are mediocre. But I don't hear these Fleet Foxes knockoffs they claim, and I really love the campfire, outdoors, roots folk of their albums. Just my preference. More once I listen to it a few more times!

New Josh Ritter

Josh Ritter's new album, The Beast in Its Tracks, is now streaming on NPR Music. The album was written after his divorce. Says NPR:

The Beast in Its Tracks mostly hovers in a fascinating spot, where Ritter's emotional timeline is concerned: Even in the album's darkest moments, he's more bruised than wounded, yearning to compartmentalize and preserve the happy memories that remain, and recovered enough to delight in fresh romantic encounters. He's a man trying on newfound wisdom and finding that it doesn't always fit, but he lands in a meaningful place: processing a breakup as the necessary catalyst for a new reality in which everyone has a shot at happiness.

 NPR will stream him live in concert on March 4th. 

New Josh Ritter

Josh Ritter announced a new album, "The Beast In Its Tracks," on his Facebook page today.

I have a new album coming out on March 5, 2013. It’s called The Beast in Its Tracks. You can hear a song from it on joshritter.com.

I wrote and recorded this record in the 18 months after my marriage had fallen apart. All heartbreak is awful – my broken heart wasn’t unique. But writing these songs was helping me get through the night and I didn’t have the strength to care or question.

The album is released on March 5, which should be a good day for music, no?