Kurt Vile, whose prolix verbosity and augmented guitar solos do not lend themselves to brevity (much like this sentence so far), will release a record this fall, on Nov. 17 to be exact, that he has titled Back to Moon Beach, which he heralds today with a new song called “Another Good Year for the Roses” (yes, this sentence is continuing), since it’s one part of an hour-long compendium of tunes he cheekily calls an “E.P.,” or “extended play” (not to be confused with a long-player, much like this 94-word sentence).
“Here’s the opening track from my upcoming ep… ok, it’s longer than an ep… now I call it a KV comp,” Vile commented in a brief statement (at least relative to Kurt Vile). “The first six tracks — which are the ones that fit on a single LP — are new to the world, with one foot in the not-too-distant past and the other with one tiny toe pointing toward the future. Together my feet are like a couple spanning time together.”
“Another Good Year for the Roses” ambles along with a country lope, thanks to the twinkling piano and Vile’s drooping guitar. “They said it’s been a good year for the roses already/So these days I keep steady on the regular already,” he sings before embarking on a typically Vileian digression: “By the way, everybody knows that was the country song sung by a man possessed by the devil like myself so sing with the man.” And he hums. The video shows Vile and his buddies performing in tune in the woods with cameos by actors Michael Shannon and Kevin Corrigan before they all head to the New York City venue Otto’s Shrunken Head for a gig.
Vile recorded the song in Stinson Beach, California, in September 2019, working on it and others through this past May. “So many magic moments,” Vile said. The release includes covers of Bob Dylan’s rendition of “Must Be Santa” (which features Vile’s daughters Awilda and Delphine) and Wilco’s “Passenger Side.” He also includes a “radio version” of the (Watch My Moves) track “Cool Water.” A deluxe vinyl version of Back to Moon Beach includes Vile’s cover of Charli XCX’s “Constant Repeat.”
Vile, who has a gig in Allentown booked for Nov. 18, will support the album on a surprisingly short tour in March.
Back to Moon Beach track list:
1. “Another Good Year for the Roses”
2. “Touched Somethin (Caught a Virus)”
3. “Back to Moon Beach “
4. “Like a Wounded Bird Trying to Fly “
5. “Blues Come for Some”
6. “Tom Petty’s Gone (But Tell Him I Asked for Him)”
7. “Must Be Santa “
8. “Passenger Side”
9. “Cool Water” (Single Mix)
Kurt Vile tour dates:
Nov. 18 – Allentown, PA @ Miller Symphony Hall
March 17 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar *
March 18 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
March 19 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall **
March 21 – Sun. March 24 – Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival
March 22 – Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall *
March 23 – Little Rock, AR @ The Hall *
March 24 – Oxford, MS @ The Lyric Oxford *
March 26 – New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina’s *
March 27 – Birmingham, AL @ Iron City *
March 28 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse *
March 29 – Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club *
* w/ Weak Signal
** w/ King Kong and Weak Signal