David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights, Bobbie’s a Girl
“It’s moody—as in low, subdued,” says David Kilgour of his new album, Bobbie’s a Girl (Merge, September 20th).
Kilgour’s 11th solo album and first since 2014’s awesome End Times Undone, Bobbie’s a Girl is indeed a quieter affair than fans may associate with the pioneer of New Zealand indie rock. “I tended to shy away from too much guitar playing for a point of difference and to mix things up for myself a little,” Kilgour continues.
The style set in at the beginning of the Bobbie’s a Girl recording sessions in 2015, as he and the Heavy Eights (i.e., longtime collaborators Thomas Bell, Tony de Raad, and Taane Tokona) headed to Port Chalmers Recording Services with producer Tex Houston. “There seemed to be a certain mood running through the tracks, and I decided to stay there for the rest of the LP, to investigate the mood fully,” Kilgour says.
“Investigating the mood fully” also meant ruminating on the songs for an uncharacteristically long time. “We have sat on this LP for a number of years now, so that’s different because I usually can’t wait to get them out,” he says. Why the delay? Like with the themes of the album, Kilgour doesn’t want to elaborate too much. “Everything’s related to the music and mood,” he says, “but I’d rather not say how. I like a little mystery.”
The atmosphere of Bobbie’s a Girl does feel a bit mysterious. Largely missing the jangly distortion of Kilgour’s other work, the album’s 10 songs exude a hazy warmth, with a light psychedelia that recalls the ’60s outfits like the Byrds and the Velvet Underground. Opener “Entrance” floats wordlessly on acoustic guitar, whose ringing chords slightly mask the deft fingerpicking beneath it. “Smoke You Right Out of Here” picks up the pace, but “Crawler” rolls in like a storm, its fingerpicked guitars and organ creating an ominous sound until a chorus of “Aaaahs” lightens the mood.
Only four songs have lyrics. “I kind of wanted a rest from verbalizing everything, like listening to yourself going, ‘Blah blah blah blah…,” Kilgour says. The songs that do have words are fairly inscrutable—though in the airy “If You Here and I Was There,” he sings, “That black cat ain’t comin’ back,” likely referencing Bobbie, the cat on the album cover. The guitar quietly shimmering between channels, the music seems to speak more than the words.
Unsurprisingly, Kilgour kept the songwriting process loose. “I had no interest in writing songs for songs’ sake, i.e., the ‘I must write a song’ thinking,” he says. “It was more like, ‘Let’s just make stuff’ kind of thinking.” That left a lot of songs, finished and unfinished, on the cutting room floor. He describes them as “song-songs”—“Hang on, this sounds too much like a song-song”—perhaps too neat or orderly for the looser feel of Bobbie’s a Girl.
People who know Kilgour’s lengthy discography shouldn’t try to divine what comes next from Bobbie’s a Girl. “I don’t think it’s possible for LPs to relate to each other,” he says. He adds later, “The next LP could be completely instrumental, but I never say never—it could just as well turn out to be straight pop, but I would like to pick up where this LP leaves off.”
He means “Ngapara,” the closing track of Bobbie’s a Girl and his favorite song on the album. It’s a loping instrumental carried by thickly distorted guitars and heavy reverb, a song that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack. Like the rest of Bobbie’s a Girl, the song feels both a part of Kilgour’s previous work, and just outside of it.
Four decades into his career, Kilgour remains as creatively restless as ever. Wherever that drive takes him next, you’ll want to follow.
Merge Records will release Bobbie’s a Girl on September 20th.
Bobbie’s a Girl track listing:
Entrance
Smoke You Right Out of Here
Crawler
Threads
Coming in From Nowhere Now
Spotlight
Swan Loop
If You Were Here and I Was There
Looks Like I’m Running Out
Ngapara
Credits:
Thomas Bell: bass, keyboards, hand chimes and percussion.
Tony de Raad: guitar.
Taane Tokona: drums and percussion.
David Kilgour: guitar, vibes, keyboards and piano.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Tex Houston and Thomas Bell at Port Chalmers Recording Services between 2015 and 2018.