American solo artist Waxahatchee aka Katie Crutchfield, has announced the title of her new album; Ivy Tripp, due out on April 7th via her new label Merge, (Wichita will release it internationally). Katie formed this indie music project in 2011 alongside participation in various short-lived projects: an earlier solo act named King Everything, plus punk bands including Bad Banana, P.S. Eliot, and the Ackleys, in which she played with twin sister and Swearin’ frontwoman Allison. Crutchfield called upon frequent collaborators from Swearin’, Kyle Gilbride and Keith Spencer to play on the album, and also produce it.
Waxahatchee is the artist she wants to see in the world, and frankly that’s the kind of artist we all want to see as well. Air will leave you breathless.
Air has been released from the forthcoming album, with an appropriate title, in regards to Crutchfield’s comments in a press release: “I have thought of it like this: Cerulean Salt is a solid and Ivy Tripp is a gas.” Cerulean Salt of course being Waxahatchee’s second studio album released in early 2013, presenting lyrics about love, loneliness, and loss of youth as she draws attention to the brutal and honest beauty we don’t often see in life’s failures.
Spoken by Waxahatchee herself, Ivy Tripp is “Really just a term I made up for directionless-ness, specifically of the 20-something, 30-something, 40-something of today, lacking regard for the complacent life path of our parents and grandparents…I think a running theme (of Ivy Tripp) is steadying yourself on shaky ground and reminding yourself that you have control in situations that seem overwhelming, or just being cognisant in moments of deep confusion or sadness, and learning to really feel emotions and to grow from that.”
The comment made by Crutchfield lodged in my brain whilst listening to the new track, as the bass drum-heavy anthem accompanied by the stretched out sirens of woo-oo-oos focuses on the lingering malaise felt by those in the ages she described. Although the track and Crutchfield’s comments draw attention to those feelings, Air is anything but aimless!
Crutchfield sings “You were patiently giving me every answer as I roamed free” at the peak of the track, and at another point, sings “I left you out like a carton of milk”. In what feels like the quintessential Waxahatchee lyric, as the track simultaneously portrays feelings of confusion and victory. Crutchfield has said “I heard someone say that you have to be the change you want to see. I just want to be the kind of musician I want to see in the world. I want to present myself in a way that reflects that.”
I want to applaud her for her good deeds and even better music, for embracing change, honestly presenting her thoughts through her tracks and providing us with her hauntingly beautiful harmonies and ghostly sounds. Waxahatchee is the kind of musician I want to see in the world.
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