One of the most critically and commercially acclaimed artists of the last decade, Kurt Vile will release Bottle It In on October 12. The epic, loping ‘Bassackwards’ follows previously released Bottle It In single, ‘Loading Zones’, an ode to the parking challenges in Vile’s native Philadelphia, described as “Vile at his comforting, shaggy best” (The Guardian), and an “ambiguous rumination on small town life” (MOJO). ‘Bassackwards’ is the album’s beating heart and Vile’s most compelling evocation of how he sees the world: “I was on the ground circa Planet Earth, but out of sorts,” he sings over a gently psychedelic bed of backmasked guitars. “But I snapped back, baby, just in time to jot it down.”
Bottle It In is about place only insofar as it is about the people in those places: friends and family, bandmates and music heroes, colleagues and collaborators. There’s a lot of love in these big-hearted songs, a lot of warmth toward everyone in Vile’s orbit and even toward those whose paths he’s yet to cross. “Loved you all a long, long while,” he sings on “One-Trick Ponies.” “Looked down into a deep dark well, called all of your names.” The jangly country-rock tune serves as a valentine to… he won’t say, but he and Mozgawa and Farmer Dave Scher deliver a beautifully sympathetic sing-along chorus that invites every one of us one-trick ponies to join in.
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