Yesterday Louisville, Kentucky-based folk songwriter Joan Shelley released “Wild Indifference,” the first single off her upcoming self-titled record. This album — which was produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy — is Shelley’s fourth record to date, and will be out May 5 on No Quarter.
In an interview with NPR, Shelley said that, “everything about [the] album, from writing to performance to artwork, was an exercise in understatement.” “Wild Indifference” is a prime example of Shelley achieving said simplicity and rawness. Where folk music sometimes feels limited by its simplicity, Shelley’s deliberate simplicity is exactly what elevates her above other female folk artists. “Wild Indifference” feels like Shelley is talking directly to her listeners, pulling them into her intimate thought processes and questions. Perhaps that’s exactly what Jeff Tweedy heard when he decided to collaborate with her and eventually bring her on tour with Wilco.
This first song, in context with Shelley’s discussion of the album, outlines her own writing styles and processes, and Shelley sincerely sings out “It’s all centered around you.” Similarly, Shelley told NPR that this album is “central in relation to her other work,” and the stark, bare-bones style of it brings us back to the centeredness that allows her to feel so accessible to listeners.
Though it’s late in her discography, the album will be self-titled, almost as if to draw our attention to Shelley finding that personal “center” as she navigates through her musical career. The song effectively plays on many paradoxes with the juxtaposition of the active “wild” and the passive, apathy of the word “indifference.” Shelley’s music is so beautiful and memorable, because it’s somewhere in the middle, leaning back toward the center she’s seeking. Listen below and check out the full tracklist and artwork for Joan Shelley.
Here’s the album artwork:
And the full tracklist:
1. “We’d Be Home”
2. “If The Storms Never Came”
3. “Where I’ll Find You”
4. “I Got What I Wanted”
5. “Even Though”
6. “I Didn’t Know”
7. “Go Wild”
8. “The Push And Pull”
9. “Pull Me Up One More Time”
10. “Wild Indifference”
11. “Isn’t That Enough”
Joan Shelley is out 5/5 on No Quarter. Pre-order it here.
Shelley will play a few shows with Wilco in mid-March, beginning in Kalamazoo, MI on March 14th. Get tickets here.
