Apocrypha

Description

Born in Dublin, thirty years an immigrant. This is the backbone of henryohenry's debut album, Apocrypha, not as a concept but as a condition. Three decades spent in the United States working in construction, absorbing the mythologies of the country and building what he calls "an idiosyncratic American language," something closer to Whitman's vision than what he found upon arrival. He describes himself as "formally and informally not a musician." Almost all the songs were written on a six-dollar thrift store guitar with a repaired head and strings that distorted unpredictably. It does not appear on the record. Produced by filmmaker Rick Alverson, the album is anchored by guitarist Eamon O'Leary and his son Ned Steves, recording together for the first time, without rehearsal. Erik Hall mixed and contributed overdubs, Emilie Rex from Lean Year lends her harmonies on three songs, and poet Callie Garnett appears on another. The title track "There" captures something difficult to name: how powerful feelings push you to the page, and how what you create can outlive the feelings that gave rise to it. "It feels like a triumph over something," he says, "even if we're a bit embarrassed by some of the feelings." Apocrypha arrives as a debut album but carries the patience of a life fully lived. For fans of John Cale, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen.