You’ll have to understand some things about the morning and the weekend that this session was recorded to fully appreciate the performances from ones monsieurs Langhorne, Malachi and Paul. While on tour with Murder By Death, their schedule afforded them an off-day and they were able to spend a night and a day here in town, when the heat was draining out everyone’s will to live. The temperature the day before and the day of the session reached Hades-like temperatures of 100 degrees. When the guys got to us late on that last Saturday night in July, meeting us at a narrow, packed tavern in the midst of a downtown-wide street festival, they were haggard and sticky with a day’s stink, dust and sweat. They were able to save themselves some hotel money, befriending some females at the bar and when they pulled up to our door the following morning, they looked exactly as they had the night before, but three times as weary. They were operating on nary a wink of sleep and Langhorne was concerned about the early 10 a.m. hour being completely unkind to his tired voice. But miraculously, all of the unfavorable conditions seemed to bolster the very aspects of Slim’s contagious Americana. The disgusting a.m. time schedule that he was forced to keep pulled from him the jagged, of course we got drunk last night and probably still are wash that makes all of his songs sound like the perfect kind of wrinkled. The heat, which plum-near liquefied the three men as they sped through these four songs, seemed to be an elixir, tailoring into the textures of their tunes a dressing of smoked ebullition, an effervescence that manages to deck you alert. This will go down as the first session to make us really feel that what we’re doing here in this humble little studio and with this lowly keyboard knocking out these humble sentences might mean something. – Sean Moeller

Coming Monday afternoon, descriptions straight from the horse’s (Langhorne) mouth. For now, you’ll do well to accept these outsider calls and favorite lines. You’ll know when the Slim-ster’s speaking because the things he’ll say are going to be found within the mothering grip of quotation marks.

First song
English Tea (Langhorne Slim) [2.96MB] [3596 downloads]


– unreleased
“The liquor over here’s stronger and I cannot stay very much longer.” There’s a bass part just after the minute-15 mark where Paul uses a bow to excellent effect, giving anyone who listens doughy knees and a dry mouth.

Second song
By The Time The Sun's Gone Down (Langhorne Slim) [2.89MB] [3313 downloads]


– original version appears on “When The Sun’s Gone Down”

Within the walls of this song is the first time we can hear the hours of sleeplessness in Langhorne’s voice and damn if it doesn’t sound fucking sweet.

Third song
She's Gone (Langhorne Slim) [2.85MB] [3460 downloads]


– unreleased

“I’m unhappy half the time I’m told/I suppose that’s so/Put on a happy face on Halloween/Scare the shit out of the ghosts/Well, there’s just so many people with unwashed, filthy demands.” I have been prizing these lyrics for the past few months, waiting for October to finally get here when they could be fit into ordinary conversation. At the end of this – you’ll be shouting with him. During the middle you’ll be shouting with him. Why don’t we just love this song all at once? It can take it.

Fourth song
Restless (Langhorne Slim) [2.40MB] [3215 downloads]


– original version appears on the digital and tour-only EP “Engine”

“I had more wine than I knew what to do with.” By this time in the session, the sweat stains had their own stains.