Kurt Vile
Philadelphia’s Kurt Vile may be a young’n, yet his compositional chops have spent plenty of time devouring the classic folk and rock greats, including Cohen, Petty, Garfunkel and Springsteen. “The soul is born old but grows young. That is the comedy of life,” Oscar Wilde once said, and Vile seems to be a living, breathing take on this sentiment, his music full of sage and understated moments that usually result from years and years of the day-to-day. “Baby’s Arms”, Vile’s first track from brand-new album (and fourth release, altogether) Smoke Ring For My Halo [Matador Records] echoes Cohen’s best contradictory dour-sweetness, filled with “I get sick of just about everyone / and I hide in my baby’s arms…shrink myself just like a Tom Thumb / and hide in my baby’s hands”, spoken like a true daydreamer, idealistically reclusive. His guitar pluckings side up nicely with the rambling and introverted mood. NPR says of Smoke Ring For My Halo that “these are some of Kurt Vile’s best foggy notions yet.” Listen to “Baby’s Arms”, below.
“Baby’s Arms”
Sonic Diet 