Courtesy Photo
Austin artist Abram Shook draws influences from Brazilian music as well as the ’70s in his new album “Love At Low Speed.” He returns to Fayetteville for a show at Stage Eighteen tonight.
Artist traverses fresh terrain in new album
Abram Shook’s new album “Love At Low Speed,” released June 16, allowed the musician to explore one creative departure after another. The album is his first use of string arrangements; it’s the first time Shook pursued a cohesive thread — lyrically and technically — throughout the album; and the stories on “Low Speed” are contemplative self-reflections rather than the outward observations that make up the songs on his two previous projects.
“I felt like if I could turn the camera a little bit more inward, then I could maybe touch on some things that were a little more universal,” Shook says of his songwriting process. Following the end to an 11-year relationship, Shook says the material for the album started to take shape out of looking back through that lens of nostalgia and transition. “At the end of the day, we all have the same sort of issues when it comes to relationships; I think there’s a lot of common themes. And one way to deal with that is through writing or through listening.
“I listen all the time. I have a voracious appetite for new music and am always trying to find things that inspire me, and I think I’m hoping in some small way, maybe I can do the same [for others].”
Because so much interests and inspires him as an artist, Shook can already say his next record won’t have the same feel as “Low Speed.” He describes his first two albums as him figuring out styles — going through several genres on one album. It’s also a fine route to take, but the lyrical, technical and tonal cohesion of this latest project has been the most pleasing thing about the album and is a concept he will continue moving forward — “whether with this style or that style.”
“There are artists I like who can do one sound and style really, really well, and I’m always impressed by that, but it takes a certain type of artist to be able to do that, and some people just can’t,” Shook says of his own approach. “They have these different styles or they want to put on these different masks or try new things and challenge their own strengths as a writer, because then I feel like you can really tap into something you wouldn’t normally try.”
JOCELYN MURPHY
jmurphy@nwadg.com
FAQ
Abram Shook
With Jordan Moser & Lost John
WHEN — 8 p.m. today
WHERE — Stage Eighteen in Fayetteville
COST — $5
INFO — facebook.com/abramshookmusic, stage18live.com
