Pete Yorn - Pete Yorn

Readying his fifth album in a recording career just shy of a decade old, it would be easy to see Pete Yorn settling back into a more mellow groove. That would, of course, rule out working with alt-rock music icon Frank Black of the legendary 80's indie stalwarts The Pixies, a chance meetup that has now resulted in Yorn's most searing, stripped and raw album ever: the self-titled, appropriately black-covered September 28 release (Vagrant). Entering into the studio in 2008 with Black and his band, Yorn had no preconceptions of what to expect. "I wasn’t concerned with the outcome,” he says. “It was more about the experience. I knew that I could go up there and possibly get nothing out of it, but I just thought it would be cool to go work with someone I really respect and see what I could learn from him.”

With a minimalist approach to production, Yorn's new songs took on an abrasive, occasionally defiant rock and roll tone, a roughshod attitude that on songs such as lead track "Precious Stone" delivers a guitar-centric sound that veers off, Black-style, into a wall of dissonant power chords as Yorn's vocals strain with a new found urgency. "I usually like to add a lot of layers, production-wise, and he wanted none of it,” Yorn says. “He was like, ‘No. I just want your voice out there, fucked up and raw. I don’t want a bunch of overdubs sucking away from your personality.’ He really believed that was the best way to present me.” He adds: "It’s filled with imperfections, but I like that, it just seems more natural that way.”

Myspace  Artist Site  Vagrant Label Site

Pete Yorn - "Precious Stone" (from Pete Yorn)

Photo Credits: Jim Wright