Indie people singer/songwriter Ken Yates provides to the vulnerability and uncooked humanity of his breathtaking fourth album Cerulean, taking Atwood Journal by way of the brand new tracks of his expanded version that, collectively, kind a snapshot of life earlier than, throughout, and after a loss.

for followers of Bear’s Den, Leif Vollebekk, Huge Thief, Noah Reid

Stream: “Fairweather” – Ken Yates

When we final caught up with singer/songwriter Ken Yates, his fourth album had simply come out – and the injuries have been nonetheless recent.

“The songs from Cerulean have been a refuge for me throughout an especially tough time in life,” Yates described in mid-2022. “These songs have been my manner of shifting by way of the levels of grief: From my worry concerning the state of the world, to the sleepless, anxious nights, to working by way of my anger and disappointment, and eventually, to recognizing the abundance of excellent in my life. I can hear myself processing these emotions in actual time, and looking for small moments of peace.”

Initially launched in June 2022, Cerulean is a panoramic triumph of the human spirit. Yates channels ache into magnificence and grief into hope as he searches for an area of calm, nevertheless fleeting it could be.

Whereas Yates has traditionally been fast to maneuver on from one album to the subsequent, one thing about these songs – and the world they inhabited – saved him coming again to them; to reside with them a little bit longer, giving them extra room to breathe and time to develop. The result’s Cerulean (Prolonged Version), a seventeen-song deluxe album that provides six new tracks and about 25 extra minutes of achingly intimate introspection to the to the softly stirring Cerulean expertise.

Along with three heart-wrenching acoustic renditions of fan favorites “Comfort Prize,” “The Future Is Useless,” and “Don’t Imply to Wake You,” Yates has additionally added three new compositions to the combination – “Fairweather,” “Abnormal Life,” and “In Mild of My Absence” – every of which feels extra breathtaking than the final.

“I type of view them as a snapshot of the place I used to be at earlier than, throughout and after a loss, which very a lot ties into the general arc of Cerulean,” Yates explains. “Each sonically and lyrically they represented the place I used to be at in my life on the time. ‘Fairweather’ I wrote earlier than the album was made, and ‘Abnormal Life’ and ‘In Mild of My Absence’ got here after.

Atwood Journal beforehand included “Fairweather” on our 86th Editor’s Picks, praising Yates for his potential to shine a heat, redemptive gentle by way of even life’s darkest haze: Yates’ grief resonates all through this tune that cleverly performs off the phrase “fair-weather buddy,” and but by its finish we’re left not in a spot of sullen disappointment or painful solitude, however quite, an area of hope and quietly cautious optimism.

However are you faring properly?
Are you faring properly?
I do know you’d by no means inform
Are you faring properly?
Are you faring properly?
Trigger it’s so darkish
On this lodge
All of your fairweather associates
Making fairweather plans

“Abnormal Life” and “In Mild of My Absence” really feel like a fantastic cathartic exhale. Each songs will be seen as factors of transition for Yates, as he sought to rediscover his personal id alongside his place on the planet over these previous few years of turmoil and upheaval. The mild, brooding “Abnormal Life” displays on “trying to find pleasure within the mundane,” as Yates places it. “I buried one thing deep, and it’s pushing up the dandelions,” he sings within the first shiver-inducing refrain. “Not dangerous for a weed: Rising simply to drift away in items on the breeze, and dreaming of an peculiar life.”

“In Mild of My Absence,”  with its dreamy melodies and smoldering grooves, is a visceral launch – and maybe Yates’ most overt try at shifting onward and upward: “Ache is similar type of creature in a distinct disguise,” he muses within the tune’s last moments. “Strolling out of the darkness, and into the night time.“

“Like many songs on the album, it’s about confronting the darkness I used to be feeling on the time after struggling a loss,” he says. “I used to be beginning to create issues out of nothing and felt disconnected from a number of the great components of my life, which was stopping me from merely having fun with them. I believe once we undergo trauma there’s part of us that looks like we’re not allowed to expertise any pleasure.  I seen I used to be feeling responsible or egocentric any time I discovered myself having an excellent time.  I’ve since realized that as necessary as it’s to take a seat along with your disappointment throughout a interval of trauma, it’s simply as very important to acknowledge what provides you pleasure in these moments, and to permit your self to expertise it.”

Because of its prolonged version, Cerulean is much more stunning, extra weak, and extra human.

It’s straightforward to know why Ken Yates may need needed to spend extra time on this album’s world: For as exhausting as it may be course of grief and trauma, there’s one thing deeply shifting and significant about connecting with that innermost a part of ourselves.

“I’ve heard from so many individuals who’ve linked with these songs in numerous methods, as a result of they carry their very own trauma and life experiences into it,” Yates shares. “That’s been probably the most rewarding a part of releasing this album and watching it develop over the previous 12 months, and it’s actually what made me really feel comfy releasing much more songs that have been written throughout that interval.”

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:: stream/buy Cerulean right here ::

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Stream: “In Mild of My Absence” – Ken Yates

A CONVERSATION WITH KEN YATES

Atwood Journal: Ken, how does Cerulean resonate for you a 12 months later? What’s your relationship with the album now, in comparison with what it was a 12 months in the past?

Ken Yates: I believe that is the primary album I’ve made that I can nonetheless take heed to a 12 months later. I’m nonetheless very linked to it, a lot in order that it was tough to maneuver on from it and determine what I needed to write down about subsequent. Usually I’m already waiting for the subsequent album proper after an album is launched, however for no matter cause I actually lived with this one for some time. I believe I’m simply beginning to transfer on from it now.

Why add these new tracks to Cerulean quite than make a brand new EP of them? How do they match into the file’s story in your thoughts?

Ken Yates: Initially I believed I would save a number of of those tracks for a future album, however I actually felt they have been meant to reside with the remainder of the songs from Cerulean. Each sonically and lyrically they represented the place I used to be at in my life on the time. “Fairweather” I wrote earlier than the album was made, and “Abnormal Life” and “In Mild of My Absence” got here after, and I type of view them as a snapshot of the place I used to be at earlier than, throughout and after a loss, which very a lot ties into the general arc of Cerulean.

What do these new tracks add to the unique album, and the way do they modify the file for you? Mainly, how does Cerulean Prolonged examine to the unique Cerulean album?

Ken Yates: In a way I view an “Prolonged Version” as a backstage go to an album. When you’re making an album you’re probably the most vital model of your self, it’s a must to be a bit cutthroat with which songs you’re going to launch. However after getting a little bit of distance from it, it’s good to come back again to a number of the songs that didn’t fairly make the lower. Dare I say I had a little bit of enjoyable making the brand new tracks, experimenting with completely different sounds (synths and horns) with producer Dan Ledwell, and it gave me an opportunity to collaborate with a number of different artists I like (Tiny Habits, Rose Cousins, Jenn Grant, Breagh Isabel). There’s much less strain if you launch new music this manner, so it was good to present Cerulean a little bit of an extended life by sharing extra songs as I made them, and arising with completely different preparations for songs individuals have been acquainted with. It’s the entire pie as a substitute of only a piece of it.

Take me by way of these songs; what are their tales? What do they imply to you?

Fairweather

Ken Yates: “Fairweather” was one of many first songs I wrote for my newest album “Cerulean”. For some time I even thought the album title could be “Fairweather”, however on the final minute I made a decision to not deliver it into the studio. I believe I felt like thematically it didn’t match with the remainder of the songs, and due to the gradual constructing tempo, it may need gotten misplaced on the again of the album. However I saved coming again to it. I performed it reside a number of instances and it felt good, then I posted a clip of it on-line and had lots of people asking concerning the tune.

So I despatched a demo recording to producer Dan Ledwell considering I would simply launch it as an acoustic/vocal monitor. Dan actually breathed new life into the tune for me. He despatched it to Joshua Van Tassel so as to add drums, then layered on piano, horns, and even stunned me with stunning vocal harmonies from Jenn Grant. It felt actually good to present this tune the total studio therapy, and I believe that is the association it was all the time meant to have.

The tune is about what occurs to relationships when somebody places their desires first and begins to close out the individuals who genuinely care about them. It’s really easy to isolate your self if you’re chasing after one thing, and for those who cease nurturing your relationships, every part else can disintegrate round you. It’s type of that “Good Will Looking” second if you understand somebody is near unraveling however they’re too proud to inform you. A easy query like “how are you doing?” will be sufficient to make somebody break down and open up about their struggles. It’s a dynamic I appear to be writing about lots recently. Attempting to be there for somebody who could not have earned or deserves it. I believe possibly as a result of it’s the height of human compassion, attempting to know somebody’s struggles as a substitute of judging them or their behaviour.

Abnormal Life

Ken Yates: I wrote this tune about trying to find pleasure within the mundane.  I do know a number of us needed to modify to a distinct tempo of life over the previous few years. After I stopped the ahead movement of continually being on the highway, I discovered it jarring at first.  I believe with out that ahead movement I felt like I wasn’t getting anyplace, however after a while sitting in it, I realized it was the other, that a number of the issues I used to be busying myself with have been only a distraction from really determining what I needed out of life.  I realized lots about myself throughout that point.  I realized I didn’t actually like the place I lived, so I moved.  I realized that profession accomplishments solely gave me a short quantity of pleasure, so I began on the lookout for it in different components of my day.  I realized that saying you’re “too busy” shouldn’t be worn as a badge of honour, it means you aren’t prioritizing stuff you’d prefer to be doing.

The Future Is Useless (Tiny Habits Model)

Ken Yates: I wasn’t acquainted with the trio Tiny Habits till considered one of their members, Judah Mayowa, posted a canopy of “The Future Is Useless”.  I used to be fully blown away by his model of the tune, and have become an prompt fan of him and Tiny Habits.  I’ve by no means heard 3 half concord fairly like they do it.  Judah was sort sufficient to come back and sing this tune with me at a present in Boston, and after assembly him and the opposite two members of the group (Cinya and Maya), I knew I needed to collaborate with them not directly.  I had been working up an acoustic model of this tune and so they graciously agreed to sing on it.  Generally the web works in stunning methods, and I like that this model of the tune has come full circle since Judah posted a canopy of it.

In Mild of My Absence

Ken Yates: I wrote this tune quickly after ending Cerulean, and like many songs on the album it’s about confronting the darkness I used to be feeling on the time after struggling a loss. I used to be beginning to create issues out of nothing and felt disconnected from a number of the great components of my life, which was stopping me from merely having fun with them.  I believe once we undergo trauma there’s part of us that looks like we’re not allowed to expertise any pleasure.  I seen I used to be feeling responsible or egocentric any time I discovered myself having an excellent time.  I’ve since realized that as necessary as it’s to take a seat along with your disappointment throughout a interval of trauma, it’s simply as very important to acknowledge what provides you pleasure in these moments, and to permit your self to expertise it.

Don’t Imply To Wake You / Comfort Prize Acoustic Variations

Ken Yates: I play each of those songs very in another way solo in comparison with the album variations. I like the preparations Jim Bryson got here up with on the album, however I all the time knew I needed to launch an alternate model of every tune that was a bit extra intimate and a greater illustration of how I play them reside with solo guitar/vocal.

What’s your favourite tune of those new tracks?

Ken Yates: “Abnormal Life.”  It’s the primary tune I’ve launched that’s primarily piano/synth pushed (performed by Dan Ledwell) and I like the harmonies Rose Cousins sang.  It’s additionally one of many stranger songs I’ve written when it comes to kind.  There’s probably not a refrain, and it largely depends on groove and lyrics to maintain the tune shifting.

A lot of Cerulean is about grief and trauma. Do these subjects/themes nonetheless ring true for you immediately?

Ken Yates: I’m at a distinct place with it now having a bit extra time to course of. I believe the sentiments I’m singing about have been introduced on by the grief and the trauma I used to be going by way of, however the songs themselves don’t essentially reside on as being particularly about that. That’s the fantastic thing about songwriting. I’ve heard from so many individuals who’ve linked with these songs in numerous methods, as a result of they carry their very own trauma and life experiences into it. That’s been probably the most rewarding a part of releasing this album and watching it develop over the previous 12 months, and it’s actually what made me really feel comfy releasing much more songs that have been written throughout that interval.

Does dwelling with such a grief-fueled album add negatively to your individual feelings, or has this album’s presence been a constructive pressure in your life?

Ken Yates: Undeniably constructive. I nonetheless really feel this album is inherently optimistic. The method of me parsing by way of my grief and looking for a manner by way of it’s optimistic.  There’s even optimism in writing these songs normally, in any other case they wouldn’t have been written.  I believe the explanation I’m nonetheless linked to this file particularly is as a result of I had one thing so actual and tangible to write down about, versus previous albums the place I used to be writing about what I believed was fascinating.  It’s a serious milestone for me artistically and I’ve a sense will probably be a turning level for my writing going ahead. 

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