There are few truly unique voices in the music landscape, but it sure seems like Odetta Hartman is one of them. She’s just announced her sophomore album, Old Rockhounds Never Die (out August 10 via Northern Spy and Memphis Industries), and it’s heralded by “Misery,” a banjo-led murder ballad that features gunshots as an instrumental element, and stylistically lies somewhere between Old West folk and the dark electronica of Fever Ray. She told NPR of the song:
“Perhaps the earliest song I wrote on banjo, this murder ballad has haunted me since I first visited the New Mexican deserts. The jury is still out over who killed who, but one thing is certain: the only justice found is that which we serve ourselves.”
She also says, unsurprisingly, that she used some unconventional instrumentation while recording the album:
“Many of the beats on the album were recorded in the kitchen: the snare sound is actually a running faucet, or if you hear these glockenspiel bells that’s actually a set of kitchen bowls. Other percussive elements include scissors, a pepper grinder and keys on the radiator.”
Listen to “Misery” above, and below, check out the Old Rockhounds Never Die album art and tracklist below.
1. “Old Rockhounds”
2. “Cowboy Song”
3. “You You”
4. “Widow’s Peak”
5. “Sweet Teeth”
6. “Auto”
7. “Honey”
8. “Smoke Break”
9. “The Ocean”
10. “Spit”
11. “Freedom”
12. “Misery”
13. “Dettifoss”
14. “Carbon Copy”
15. “(Still Alive)”
Old Rockhounds Never Die is out 8/10 via Northern Spy and Memphis Industries. Pre-order it here.
