On September 22nd, Chicago modern indie rock legend Mike Kinsella (American Football, Joan of Arc, Cap’n Jazz) will release his fifth album under solo moniker Owen this fall. As he began writing this album, Kinsella became a husband and a father. For a musician who has never been afraid to address deeply personal topics in his songs, it would be impossible for such life altering changes not to affect the music he creates. 
As a result, New Leaves boasts a feeling of growth and evolution that can only be achieved with time. This notion is encapsulated within the album’s closing track, “Curtain Call”. In many ways, this song serves as Kinsella’s final goodbye to a world he’s known all his life. In the final moments, Kinsella perfectly sums up his thoughts on this passage into maturity by singing, “From now on it’s do’s and don’ts, to a room of antique maps and ghosts, where I have been, and where I will go.”
On New Leaves, the arrangements are more elaborate, the song structures more complex, and the lyrics more refined. “Being a lot more settled has freed up space in my mind that was once occupied by frivolous romantic social interactions to be used for thinking critically about broad social interactions and issues,” says Kinsella. “I’ve been feeling the weight of having an entire other human to consider throughout every moment of every day,” which is a new sense of responsibility reflected in songs that now focus on learning from past mistakes and living in the present.
Available for download from New Leaves is second track “Good Friends, Bad Habits,” a track that uses swirling synthesizers to twist and turn familiar Owen elements into a completely new sound. In this cut, Kinsella waxes on about picking friends with bad habits, “just petty thieves or addicts/ they don’t hurt anyone.” This realization of questionably behaved friends but later justification is a natural thought progression for a new husband and father; he’s thinking of his family’s safety, but knows it’s not necessarily at risk. Layered with beautiful strings and a twinkling melody, “Good Friends, Bad Habits” promises good things for New Leaves.
Owen – “Good Friends, Bad Habits”
Polyvinyl will release New Leaves nationally September 22nd.
Tracklisting:
01. New Leaves
02. Good Friends, Bad Habits
03. A Trenchant Critique
04. Never Been Born
05. Amnesia and Me
06. Brown Hair in a Bird’s Nest
07. Too Scared to Move
08. The Only Child of Aergia
09. Ugly on the Inside
10. Curtain Call
Tour Dates:
Sept 16 – Canopy Club (Pygmalion Festival) / Urbana, IL
Sept 18 – Beat Kitchen / Chicago (w/ Bob Nanna – early show, all ages)
Sept 18 – Beat Kitchen / Chicago (w/ Davey von Bolen – late show, 21+)
Owen: website | myspace | pre-order New Leaves
Photo: Joe Wigdahl
