Last year, Kurt Vile teamed up with Courtney Barnett for a collaborative album that impressed, despite it clearly just being a pleasant diversion for both songwriting geniuses. But with Lotta Sea Lice so recently in our rearview mirror, it’s easy to forget that we haven’t received a proper Kurt Vile album on his own since 2015. That was when Vile offered up b’lieve I’m goin down…., the record that saw Vile top the AAA charts with his hit, “Pretty Pimpin.” And though Vile popped up with solo slots at SXSW this year, we’ve been left to wonder when the Philly musician would be back with a new solo effort.
Though we still don’t have an exact date for Vile’s new album, things are looking promising, as yard signs promoting something have begun appearing. We don’t know where the signs are, only that they say “Vile ’18” and appeared on the social media accounts of his label, Matador Records. Is it a leap to assume this means a new Kurt Vile album is around the corner? Probably not. But we still can’t rule out that Kurt Vile is planning a campaign for public office, either. We’ll just have to wait an see whether we have new Vile tunes to spin, or whether we need to cast our vote for the best hair in the biz.
