Kurt Vile releases new song, “Hey Like a Child”
Acclaimed musician, songwriter and producer Kurt Vile’s new song ‘Hey Like a Child’ is out today – listen/share HERE. The song is the second unveiled from Vile’s highly anticipated new album, (Watch My Moves), which will be released April 15 on Verve Records – his first in partnership with the label (pre-order).
Recorded primarily at OKV’s newly established Central-Vile home studio in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia – (Watch My Moves) was self-produced with the help of longtime collaborator Rob Schnapf (Richard Thompson, Elliott Smith) . “When Waylon Jennings became an outlaw country artist, he loved recording at Hillbilly Central, which was Tompall Glaser’s studio,” Vile shares. “OKV Central is my Mount Airy version of that. I’ve established myself here, and at the same time, I’m going back to my recording roots back home.”
The new song follows the release last month of the album’s lead single, “Like Exploding Stones,” which NPR Music praised, “Listen to Kurt Vile’s ‘Like Exploding Stones’…it’s like fall down the rabbit hole. Through the song, you are treated to the surreal, psychedelic spirit and sounds of its trippy world…It’s magical and meditative,” while Pitchfork declares, “The limitless charm and Vile’s languorous languor have a knack for making even the heaviest affliction bearable, if not a quiet hoot.”
Across the disc – which includes 14 originals plus a version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Wages of Sin” – Vile pulls his talents in unexpected directions. The result is a vibrant, yet meditative album, propelled by his laid-back charm and inquisitive mind. Each lyric was chiseled into an aphorism, each bloom of distorted guitar or whispering synth helping to create that “fried” pop. “It’s about writing songs. It’s about lyrics. It’s about being the master of all areas of music,” he says. “I always think upbeat music, even if it’s toasty or sizzling. It’s my own version of a classic thing – it moves forward and backward at the same time.”
To celebrate new music, Vile and The Violators will embark on an extensive US tour this spring, followed by an extended summer European tour. Upcoming shows include Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on May 1, LA’s Theater at the Ace Hotel on May 12, two nights at Webster Hall in New York City on June 1 and 2, and two nights at Philadelphia’s Union Transfer on June 3 and 4. June among many others. Visit his website for a full list of tour dates.
In addition to Schnapf, Vile’s longtime band The Violators, and James Stewart, the album features special guests Chastity Belt, Cate Le Bon, and percussionists Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint, Courtney Barnett) and Sarah Jones (Hot Chip , Harry Styles).
(Watch My Moves) is Vile’s ninth solo studio album and first since 2018’s Bottle It In, which Rolling Stone ranked No. 9 on its “50 Best Albums of 2018” list praising “The Long-Haired Poet King.” from Philadelphia roams his kingdom in style on this 78-minute whopper…hardly anyone else was making rock records like this…” Plus, The New York Times calls him “the charming enigma indie rock”, while The Guardian praises, “such an instinctive facility for melodic logic that behind the shaggy locks and purple haze there is a lucid, big-hearted songwriter at work.”
In addition to his solo work, Vile has collaborated with numerous artists, including John Prine, Courtney Barnett, The War on Drugs, The Sadies and many more, and is featured on last year’s compilation, I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground. & Nico.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Vile currently lives in the Mount Airy neighborhood with his wife and two daughters.