Utne Reader is proud to premiere the song “One Three Nine” by North Texas-based folk artist Jacob Metcalf, from his debut album Fjord.
Venturing out from the confines of his two longtime bands, Fox and the Bird and Dallas Family Band, Jacob Metcalf offers a collection of ornate, cinematic folk songs on his debut full-length solo album, Fjord. Fans of The Low Anthem, Andrew Bird, and Sufjan Stevens should find a lot to like in Metcalf’s reflective and textured songs.
Metcalf sums up his take on the song “One Three Nine”: “[It’s] my account of an isolated night and day in a foreign airport. It plays out kind of like a sitcom. There’s a scene of slapstick at the top, centered around my western fascination with the east, but the personal comedy subtly shifts focus onto a broader tragedy that hints at our fundamental inability to connect with each other. The song ends with a crash after a jaded and self-protective refrain, ‘Sometimes we hit; sometimes we miss; it’s all the same.’” Fjord will be out via self-release on limited vinyl and digital formats January 2016.
For more new music that piques our interest, visit the Utne Reader Music Sampler.