Fuel/Friends Chapel Session #21: Neil Halstead
There is something downright mesmerizing in the understated, persistent songs of Neil Halstead, former frontman of the bands Slowdive and Mojave 3 and pioneer of the shoegaze sound in England. I keep putting this chapel session on to play at nighttime, to quiet my racing mind like a hypnotist’s gold swinging watch in a darkened study somewhere, or like a metronome that whispers instead of clacks.
On the day we recorded this, an eddy amidst the rush of the workday all around us, Neil amiably walked up the wide central aisle of Shove Chapel with his guitar case in his hand and a tour manager who was doubling as a piano player on the gorgeous Steinway. Neil slowly wove a resonant, dappled set for us, with two songs from his rich new album Palindrome Hunches (2012, Brushfire Records). When reviewers talk about cozy sweaters and thoughtfulness in this album, they’re right, but that’s not to say that it is sleepy or at all boring. Rather, it feels quietly satisfying.
After the new songs, Neil turned to me and asked “Is it okay if I do a Damien Jurado cover?” I nearly choked. “Um, yeah, sure I guess that would be okay,” I replied. The results are as completely stunning as you would imagine. He also played a song I specifically requested that afternoon, “See You on Rooftops” – an older tune from 2002′s Sleeping on Roads (4AD), and one that he hadn’t played in so long that he had to remember how it went.
The whole session felt, to me, like a reawakening.
FUEL/FRIENDS CHAPEL SESSION: NEIL HALSTEAD
OCTOBER 17, 2012
ZIP: NEIL HALSTEAD CHAPEL SESSION
[wonderful photos & video by Kevin Ihle, all audio production as usual by the superheroes at Blank Tape Records]
Name: Heather Browne
Sounds awesome. And glad to hear some love for older Jurado stuff.
Bart Wang — January 28, 2013 @ 5:31 pm
Absolutely beautiful. Love the newer songs too. Thanks Heather.
Greg Harnett — January 28, 2013 @ 5:55 pm
Amazing. Greatest songwriter of my generation.
Daniel McVey — January 28, 2013 @ 6:06 pm
So nice, Heather. This series is exceptional. Such a great idea and execution. Thank you.
Roy — January 28, 2013 @ 7:25 pm
[...] Eine Weile vor seinem Konzert in Erlangen spielten Neil Halstead und sein Tourmanager/Mitmusiker John Herguth (Atlantic/Pacific) ein paar Songs – darunter auch ein Cover von Damien Jurados “Ohio” – für das US-Musikblog Fuel/Friends ein. Die komplette “Chapel Session” gibt es dort nun auch als kostenlosen Mp3-Download. [...]
Neil Halstead « you sound great — January 29, 2013 @ 5:24 am
Awesome stuff!!! Heather, I don’t know if you remember, but it was Neil’s “Paint a Face” song that I had asked you about thru email a few yrs back…I have loved his tunes ever since.
Kevin — January 29, 2013 @ 12:35 pm
[...] Read more here. [...]
Republic Records — January 29, 2013 @ 11:28 pm
[...] grab the entire Fuel/Friends Chapel Session ASAP- it includes an absolutely devastating Damien Jurado cover AND it’s free. [...]
‘Digging Shelters’ (Fuel/Friends Chapel Session)- Neil Halstead | songsfortheday — January 30, 2013 @ 5:39 pm
I just came across this. High Hopes is one of my favorite songs, ever. So incredibly sad, so incredibly lovely.
Emily — February 20, 2013 @ 1:57 pm