Photo: Elisa Terrazas Campbell
LISTEN: “YOUR WINTER”
Oregon-based sound artist Nick Byron Campbell, who records and performs under the moniker Left Vessel, has released “Your Winter,” the new single from his forthcoming debut LP One (and Driftless) mixed by Cory Hanson (of Los Angeles-based band Wand) and out June 25th via GiftShop Records. "My grandmother was going through a period of decline late in her life, while I was going through transformations that were pointing me in a new, positive direction. We really bonded during this time as we were both going through breakups, while both living in Los Angeles (my grandmother moved there late in life to be with her college sweetheart),” Campbell says of the track’s inspiration. “This song helped me emotionally work through the idea of two people bonding while heading in such incredibly different directions: one towards life’s end, the other towards a whole new era of life ahead.”
WATCH: “YOUR WINTER”
Campbell, a multi-talented composer, artist, and indie-folk maestro has previously helmed the bands Wages, Sincere Gifts, and Arizona, and his music has been featured in films and television shows. When constructing Left Vessel’s debut LP One (and Driftless) Campbell thought: "What if you could make music with a tree? Not cutting it down and turning it into an instrument, but actually with a living tree, in a way that was beautiful musically but allowed that tree to go on living its life once you were done performing with it?” He set out to do just that and traveled to Minnesota's Driftless Area in search of willing wooden participants.
One (and Driftless) features several tracks recorded with trees, complete with ambient sounds of the forest in the background—chirping birds, fluttering wings, and feet keeping time on crunchy, fallen leaves. Campbell used his own unique instrumental creation he dubbed "the arbow." The arbow (a play on the Spanish word “arbol,” for tree) is a live tree that is strung, bowed or plucked, and amplified—all in a way that doesn't damage the tree. The core idea is to find a way of making “non-extractive” music: music that doesn't hurt our world but works with it. This video illustrates Campbell’s process: https://vimeo.com/366830629/bff361fd5b
Left Vessel’s swirling brand of indie-folk, though experimental in its creation, is imminently accessible due in large part to Campbell’s adeptness with winding, catchy hooks like those found on album tracks “This Year Be,” “Your Winter,” and album opener “Arrival.” Taken as a whole, One (and Driftless) is a collection of songs about transformation: ecological, societal, personal, and romantic.
ONE (AND DRIFTLESS) TRACKLIST
ARRIVAL (DRIFTLESS I)
HOLD YOUR LAUGHTER
SOCIETY (DRIFTLESS II)
THIS YEAR BE
VICTORY ABOVE (DRIFTLESS III)
EMPTY FRAME
FIRST WORDS (DRIFTLESS IV)
THE DEAL
PUT THE DIVORCE ON THE CREDIT CARD
JE T’AIME TAMBIEN
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