2019-07-01_Uncut_UK

JULY 2019 • UNCUT• 35

new albums

LISTENINGto
“EverythingIs Your
Fault”,whichanchors
thethirdalbumbythe
wife-and-husband
teamofJulieand
BuddyMiller,is
a littlelikelisteninginona late-night
argument.It openswitha gentlypicked
acousticguitartheme,butveryquickly
hardensandsours.A tambourinerattles
inthebackgroundlikethechainsofa
ghostandBuddystranglesnotesoutofhis
electricguitar,whileJulie,whowrotethe
song,airshergrievanceswithunsettling
directness:“Youtalkthroughme,not
tome,”sheaccuses,thenadds,“It’sso
dehumanising.”Onthechorusshecomes
upwiththeultimateargumentender
whenshesings,“Everythingis yourfault,
inthewholewideworld.”
Oneofthemosteagerlyanticipated
Americanaalbumsoftheyear,Breakdown
On20thAveSouthsoundslikeit wasborn
outoffrustrationanddistanceratherthan
harmonyandunion.Inthe 10 yearssince
theirlastrecord– 2009’sWritteninChalk

• Buddyhasbecomeanextremelybusy
  producer,collaborator,sideman,and
  evenshipcaptain.Inadditiontotours
  withJimLauderdale,EmmylouHarris
  andRobertPlant,hehasservedasmusic
  supervisorontheTVshowNashvilleand
  hostedtheCayamoCruiseforAmericana
  artistsandfans,withstopsinStMaarten
  andTortola.Julie– herselfa deftsinger-
  songwriterwithsixsoloalbumstoher
  name– spentmostofthepast 10 years
  attheirhomeinNashville,dealingwith
  assortedmedicalissues.
  Inhisabsence,shewrotesongs.Lots
  of them. Most were raw-nerved and even

confrontational,asshewaitedforher

husbandtosetasidethetimetomake

anotherrecordwithher,tofollowup

WrittenInChalk. Thecouplerecordedat

home,playingalmostalltheinstruments

andhiringvariousdrummerstositinfor

a songortwo.Thatalarmingtitlesuggests

thesesongsareanchoredinoneplace;

they’reaboutherexperiencesathome

ratherthanhisexperiencesontheroad.

JulieemergesonBreakdownasthemain

creativeagent,notonlywritingeverysong

butsingingleadonalmostallofthemand

reportedlydictatingthelow-key,lowdown

soundoftherecord.Buddymaintainshis

roleasa sideman,helpingtoamplifyher

wearinessevenwhenit’sdirectedathim.

WrittenInChalkwasfullofodesto

impermanence,starkmeditationson

departureanddeath,andtheirvoices

blendedtogetherwitha senseofcollective

mourning.Breakdown is somehow darker,

exploringthedestructiveeffectsoflove

andcommitment:howmarriagemight

raiseyouupanddragyoudown,how

it maimsaseasilyasit heals.“Lovewill

tangleupyourthoughts,”theysingtogether

on“Spittin’OnFire”,aboutdesiregone

feral.“Theheartwon’tbedenied,even

whenthelipsyoukissedarethelipsthat

lied.”It’salwayspresumptuoustoreadtoo

muchautobiographyintosongs,butthat’s

ahellofa linetosingtoeachother.

Buddy,ofcourse,is notthevillain

ofthealbum,butsomeonesimilarly

caughtupinthisstormofloveanddesire.

He’sa sympatheticguitarplayer,his

crisppickingunderscoringratherthan

undercuttingthesentimentsinJulie’s

songs.Morecrucially,asa producer

forRichardThompson,theCarolina

ChocolateDropsandbluegrasslegend

RalphStanley,hespecialisesinhomey-

soundingrecordsthattrytoerasethe

distancebetweenartistandaudience.

Breakdownis similarlyintimate– justtwo

peoplemakingmusictogether– evenif the

songsaremeanttosounda littleprickly,as

thoughtheymightscratchyouif youlisten

tooclosely.Theyonlystumblewhenthey

lookbeyondthemselvesforinspiration:

withitsmartialdrumsandstrident

pace,“WarChild”,abouttherefugee

crisis,soundsmelodramaticmorethan

outraged,and“ThoughtsAt2 AM”defers

toDylaninhowit addressesthetimes.

Andyet,evenonthosetwomissteps,

theirvoicesjustsoundsogoodtogether:

hersreedyandexpressive,yetmore

gutturalherethanonWrittenInChalk;

hisclearandhigh,somehowless

grainyasheages.Maybethat’swhythis

albumultimatelysoundssogenerous

andcompassionatedespitethemany

tensionsit voices.It’snotabouthowa

relationshipfallsapart,buthowit holds

togethereveninthetoughestoftimes.

Thatmakesthesweet,hymnlikelovesong

“TilTheStardustComesApart”sound

likethealbum’sbeatingheart,itssimple

sentimentsallthemorepowerfulforbeing

sohardwon.“Ourroadmaygrowtoohard

withsorrowallaround,”JulieandBuddy

singtogether,“butineachother’s arms we

lay our burdens down.”

BuddyMiller:“I was

theenablerorthe

obstructionist...”

whatcanyoutellus

aboutthehomestudio

yousetupforthislP?

I’veproduceda lotofrecords

in ourhome.Wehaveloads

ofvintagegearandmicsin

a beautifulspace.Andwe

didn’tuseanyofit tothis

record.Therewastoomuch

baggageattached.Instead

wemoveda fewpiecestoa

tinycornerofourbedroom.

It wasuncomfortableand

imposed limitations, but I

don’tseethatasa negative.

Therewerealsothreedogs

anda catalwaysinches

awayfromthemicsallof

thetime.Thathelped.

Thatspaceseems

veryprominenton

therecord,downto

thetitle.Thetitlereflects

thepersonalbreakdown

informingour10-plus-year

hiatus.For 10 yearsI busied

myselfmakingmusicwith

everyoneexceptmywife.

It tooka longtimetorepair

thatdamage,buttheactual

recording went quickly. We

didn’tlabouroverit. Julie

wouldoftenfinisha songand

we’drecordit rightaway,for

probablyhalftherecord.

whatwasthedivision

oflabourlikeforthis

record?Juliewrote

everything,soshehad

thefinalword.Sheplayed

hurdy-gurdy,guitarsand

percussion;I playedtheother

stuffandwastheenableror

theobstructionist.Wekeptit

simpleandhopefullyhonest.

Wedidn’tmakea modern,

beautiful-soundingrecord.

INTERVIEW: STEPHEN DEUSNER

SLEEVENOTES

1 Breakdown

On20thAvenue

South

2 FeastOfThe

Dead

3 EverythingIs

YourFault

4 UnusedHeart

5 I’mGonnaMake

YouLoveMe

6 TilTheStardust

ComesApart

7 Underneath

TheSky

8 Spittin’OnFire

9 Secret

10 WarChild

11 ThoughtsAt

2AM

12 StormOf

Kisses

Producedby:

BuddyMiller,

JulieMiller

Personnel:Julie

M i l ler(voca l s,

guitar,hurdy

gurdy),Buddy

Miller(guitars,

vocals),Marco

Giovino(drums,

percussion),

BradyBlade

(drums),Rick

Plant(bass),

SteveHindalong

(drums,

percussion)

Q&A

K AT E YO R K

BUDDY & JULIE MILLER

Breakdown On 20th Ave South
NEWWEST

8/10

Americana couple’s fine, raw, long-awaited return.By Stephen Deusner