Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of "Shed Your Head," a new song by Blake Mills.
The song is from Mills' new album, Heigh Ho, which will be released September 16 through Record Collection/Verve Records.
“The goals for Heigh Ho were songs, sonics and capturing performance,” Mills said.
“I love my first album and how it sounds, but since making Break Mirrors, I feel like I’ve heard a lot of records that strike me as overtly ‘lo-fi’ or reverb-saturated; so I was interested in finding a combination of sounds that I hadn’t heard used together before. So I was very fortunate to be able to call on this group of people to help me map some new terrain.”
To that end, Mills asked his musical heroes—including Jim Keltner, Don Was, Jon Brion, Benmont Tench, Rob Moose, Mike Elizondo, and Fiona Apple (who duets on the slow-burning “Seven” and timeless sounding “Don’t Tell Our Friends About Me”)—to collaborate on the new album.
“Different songs feature slightly different bands,” Mills said. “These guys are world class musicians, and also some world class record producers. That combination produced something rare; a wide open way of playing that consistently delivers the spirit of a song. It reflects the spontaneity, maturity and tastefulness of my all-time favorite records.”
Recorded at Ocean Way studios in a room built for Frank Sinatra and used by everyone from Bob Dylan to Ray Charles, Mills created an album that references a range of genres without really belonging to any. “Sometimes it’s just necessary to make music that is without genre,” he says. “Fiona Apple once said that music can be categorized either as honest or dishonest. That honesty is what draws me in. It’s what I always hope is guiding me through my own work.”
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Check out the song below, and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments or on Facebook. You can find his current tour dates below the Soundcloud player.
9/17 - Musical Instrument Museum - Phoenix, AZ 9/18 - El Rey - Los Angeles, CA 9/19 - The Chapel - San Francisco, CA 9/20 - Sweetwater Music Hall - Mill Valley, CA 9/22 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR 9/23 - Columbia City Theatre - Seattle, WA 9/26 - Amsterdam Bat & Hall - St. Paul, MN 9/27 - Space - Evanston, IL 9/28 - Mayne Stage - Chicago, IL 9/30 - The Sinclair - Cambridge, MA 10/1 - (Le) Poisson Rouge - New York, NY 10/6 - The Hamilton - Washington, DC 10/8 - Rough Trade - Brooklyn, NY 10/9 - World Café Live - Philadelphia, PA
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
