Nap Eyes Are “So Tired.”
In the proud tradition of improvisatory, languidly unfolding self-interrogative Nap Eyes songs—like Socratic dialogues between Nigel and Nigel—comes “So Tired,” the opening track on Snapshot of a Beginner, out March 27.
The introspective tune follows lead single “Mark Zuckerberg” and similarly showcases Snapshot of a Beginner’s elevated fidelity with the addition of piano, organ and synthesizer to the band’s usual guitar, bass and drum arrangements. Like many of the songs on the new album, “So Tired” was written in an improvised recording session before being fleshed out by the band. Frontman Nigel Chapman, who addresses himself in the second person at the beginning of the song, explains the track further:
“The ‘So Tired’ refrain marks a slight shift in perspective and its meaning is twofold. For one, I get frustrated sometimes by what the world seems to require for success at a given task (for example, polished songwriting, coherent and understandable communication), so part of this is just me venting on this subject. Sometimes I would rather flow with free writing than try to box songs into rehearsed, many-times-repeated containers.
Second, at times I find myself wishing people would not hold so many preconceptions about the things in this world a given person might try to communicate. Most of us, myself included, usually assume we already know a lot – even about things we’ve spent very little time thinking about – and because of this attitude, people are often predisposed to misunderstand new ideas, even when they’re communicated in straightforward and coherent ways. But there’s no doubt, an idea won’t ever get through until there’s someone around to listen to it.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq2YhOY55zU]
Pre-Order or Preview Elsewhere
This album is a JagJaguwar / Royal Mountain release, in partnership with Paradise of Bachelors. Please pre-order from JagJaguwar or your favorite digital marketplace in advance of the March 27, 2020 worldwide release date.
Through March 27, Get 20% off the Nap Eyes catalog on our webstore with coupon code SNAPSHOT.
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- Photo by Alex Blouin & Jodi Heartz.
Snapshot of a Beginner is Nap Eyes’ most concentrated and hi-fi effort to date. Throughout the album, there’s an immediately noticeable leap in arrangement and muscle, one that still holds the raw, nervous energy and the earnest, self-deprecating poetry that make Nap Eyes an enduring cult favorite.
Almost all the songs of Nap Eyes are whittled into their final form from Chapman’s unspooling, 20-minute voice-and-guitar free-writing sessions. Each member — drummer Seamus Dalton, bassist Josh Salter and guitarist Brad Labelle — then plays a crucial role in song development, composing around the idiosyncratic structures and directing the overall sound and feel of the songs. To record, the band went to The National’s nuevo-legendary upstate NY Long Pond Studio, working with producers Jonathan Low (Big Red Machine, The National) and James Elkington (Steve Gunn, Joan Shelley), the latter of whom also did pre-production arrangement work with the band.
Never has Nap Eyes sounded more ferocious. It took them a long time and a long practice to reach this artistic zen, but one gets the feeling throughout Snapshot of a Beginner that this balance is going to hold.
Nap Eyes Tour Dates
Wed. March 4 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House %
Thu. March 5 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount %
Fri. March 6 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair %
Sat. March 7 – New York, NY @ Brooklyn Steel %
Sun. March 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts %
Mon. March 9 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat %
Wed. March 11 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle %
Thu. March 12 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West %
Fri. March 13 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge %
Sat. March 14 – St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill %
Sun. March 15 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room %
Mon. March 16 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater %
Tue. March 17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge %
Thu. March 19 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos %
Fri. March 20 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre %
Sun. March 22 – Victoria, BC @ Lucky Bar (tickets)
Wed. March 25 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge (tickets)
Fri. March 27 – San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord (tickets) #
Sat. March 28 – Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Bar (tickets) #
Sun. March 29 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah (tickets) #
Mon. March 30 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar (tickets) #
Wed. April 1 – Austin, TX @ Barracuda (tickets)
Thu. April 2 – Dallas, TX @ Three Links (tickets)
Sat. April 4 – Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room (tickets)
Sun. April 5 – Urbana, IL @ Rose Bowl Tavern (tickets)
Mon. April 6 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe (tickets)
Wed. April 15 – London, UK @ The Moth Club
Thu. April 16 – Liverpool, UK @ Leaf
Fri. April 17 – Glasgow, UK @ The Hug and Pint
Sat. April 18 – Leeds, UK @ Hyde Park Book Club
Sun. April 19 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare and Hounds
Mon. April 20 – Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin
Wed. April 22 – Paris, FR @ Le Point Ephemere
Thu. April 23 – Brussels, BE @ Volta
Fri. April 24 – Rotterdam, NL @ V11
Sat. April 25 – Utrecht, NL @ Ekko
Thu. Aug. 20-Sun. Aug. 23 – Libanus, UK @ Green Man
% = w/ Destroyer
# = w/ Itasca
