These moments add up to an album that feels equally thoughtful and spontaneous, restrained and unpredictable. The passages that stand out, like the warped soft-rock guitar solo in “Opposite Middle” and the skittering climax of “22 Days,” have the ephemeral quality of improvisation. Melodies and grooves expand in a way that was previously limited to Walker’s famously experimental live shows. The force driving these songs-from the exquisite slow burn of “Expired” to the instrumental guitar ramble “Rocks on Rainbow”-is an embrace of the unexpected. ![]() Deafman Glance marks the moment when his work actually has the power to alter the atmosphere around it. “My word is divine/I control the weather,” Walker once sang, with a hint of self-deprecation. This is a trick the album pulls off repeatedly, without losing its thrill. It’s not the first of Walker’s compositions to resemble a long stretch of quiet road, but it’s the first that takes you somewhere distinctly surprising. The multi-part “ Telluride Speed” is immediately striking, with Chicago jazz fixture Nate Lepine’s flute guiding the song through its dreamy verses, proggy breakdowns, and stomping, psychedelic coda. This adventurous spirit makes Deafman Glance a coherent mood piece and a confident expansion on 2016’s Golden Sings That Have Been Sung. Placed so early on the album, it’s a sign that Walker trusts his audience to follow him into unfamiliar territory. “Accomodations” is Walker’s most discomforting composition-a cacophony of bad-trip ambience and loopy imagery (“Nothing to eat/Only a pound of flesh”) that echo between caustic refrains. After gentle, hallucinogenic opener “In Castle Dome” and the dusky fusion of “22 Days,” the scenery collapses, the sky darkens, and shit gets weird. “I’m just making Ryley Walker records.”Īs so often happens when we leave our trusted guides, things quickly fall apart. “I’m not flipping through record bins anymore,” he recently declared. These shifts give the record a deeper emotional resonance than anything else he’s put his name to. And then there’s his singing: Once a competent and breezy instrument, Walker’s voice has evolved into a throaty speak-sing that sounds depleted, as though it’s been scooped out of itself. His music is heavier and more complex than it used to be, the arrangements harsher and stranger. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay on top of fest and show announcements.Walker’s lyrics previously served as a mere complement to his winding, pastoral fingerpicking, but now he writes closer to home, describing the familiar landscapes of Chicago and the self-destructive monotony of life on the road. Cook + Jessica Pratt + Mr Twin Sister + Protomartyr + Steve Gunn + Viet Cong + Ryley Walker + Bitchin Bajas + Mourn + Natalie Prass + Single Mothers + Bully + Jimmy Whispers ![]() + How to Dress Well + SOPHIE + Shamir + A. Wilco + Chance the Rapper + Sleater Kinney + Future Islands + Chvrches + The New Pornographers + Run the Jewels + Caribou + Panda Bear + Todd Terje & The Olsens + Mac Demarco + Kurt Vile and the Violators + Parquet Courts + Jamie XX + ILoveMakonnen + Courtney Barnett + Madlib & Freddie Gibbs + A$AP Ferg + Ariel Pink + Ex Hex + Future Brown + Waxahatchee + Iceage + Ought + Vic Mensa + Clark + Perfume Genius + The Julie Ruin + Vince Staples + Tobias Jesso Jr. ![]() Single- and three-day passes are now available through the festival’s website. Pitchfork Music Festival takes place at Chicago’s Union Park from July 17th-19th. Other notables among the 40+ acts include Future Islands, Run the Jewels, Chvrches, the New Pornographers, Caribou and more. ![]() In case you missed it, Pitchfork Music Festival dropped the deets on its 2015 lineup this past Friday! Chi-town favorites Wilco and Chance the Rapper join punk rockers Sleater-Kinney to headline the three-day festival.
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