Song of the Day: Carter Tanton - Twentynine Palms

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Twentynine Palms” by Carter Tanton from the 2016 album Jettison the Valley on Western Vinyl.

Carter Tanton - Twentynine Palms (MP3)

Baltimore musician Carter Tanton's career has led him on an assortment of adventures. He's produced for the likes of Twin Shadow, toured with War on Drugs and Strand of Oaks, started the band Tulsa, which Morning Show listeners will remember from years ago, and moved to London to be with his girlfriend. The later adventure and the proceeding decay of their relationship that followed led to his latest solo release, Jettison the Valley, where Carter Tanton has settled into a lush folk sound that seems to best express his talents. The album, which Tanton wrote in England, walks listeners through the journey and while it may be about a tumultuous span of time, it listens like a gentle summer day. Today's featured song, "Twentynine Palms", marks the beginning of both his journey and the album, starts with nothing more than Carter's guitar and voice, but are soon joined by an anchoring kick drum and drifting auditory auroras. Soft harmonies and the subtle vocal contributions of Sharon Van Etten complete the slow build of the song, making the beginning of the track seem like a bare distant memory. "Twentynine Palms" highlights Tanton's ability to tell stories not only through his lyrics, but also through the places and feelings he conjures up in his instrumentation, a talent he has seemingly mastered on Jettison the Valley.

Currently, Carter Tanton doesn't have any tour dates scheduled, though he was recently in town as part of Strand of Oaks, but keep an eye on his label's Facebook and website for a possible announcement. In the meantime, check out this video shot back in 2008 by KEXP's DJ Shannon, when Carter Tanton performed as Tulsa at the Mural Amphitheater with is song "Red Balloons", which we also featured on the CD comp Live at KEXP, Volume Four: