December Friend is releasing their second album – In a Warmer Way. It is a pandemic silver lining and I’m excited to see it keep going. The album is thoughtful and melodic. Big thanks to Joel Leviton for taking the time to tell us about the new album, which is releasing September 27, 2024
December Friend was born during the pandemic using “pandemic” tools to work remotely. Are you surprised and delighted to see it continue? You’ve used the same process to create the latest album, In a Warmer Way. Does it feel second nature by now or does it afford new ways to experiment?
100% delighted! It was such a joy to have a musical project to dig in to during the pandemic. It definitely served as a way to deal with the challenging times – we had a little virtual band going on. I’m not really surprised we kept it going. I think we made music we are proud of and with this second record I feel like we hit our rhythm a little more naturally, so to that degree the remote recording is becoming more second nature. At the same time, recording at home and swapping tracks remotely affords us new ways to experiment on our own time. I can play around with a song, build it out, and then get the December Friend collaborators (John Wlaysewski and Jeff Victor) involved. I’m thrilled John and Jeff continue to work on December Friend projects with me – they are incredible musicians and artists.
There’s a playfulness in the music of the album that I enjoy. All Young Lovers Disappear has an especially subdued psychedelic twinge that reminds me of the music of the 1970s. Do you go into a song with a specific vision or does it just flow?
I’m so glad you hear some playfulness. I think I tend to be too serious in my writing, so I was trying to have a little more fun (although there definitely are serious tracks on this album too). As for All Young Lovers Disappear, I actually did have a lot of the psychedelia and production in my head as I wrote it and it did unfold how I anticipated. I wanted it to be acoustic guitar layered on top of a synth part with a lot of movement that served as a bed, or base layer, for the song. And I’m always a sucker for an outro, particularly one that is retro or psychedelic in feel. Some songs take a turn from what I expect, this one is pretty true to the initial sound in my head.
No Fadeouts is a callout to every generation to live life to the utmost. (OK, some generations are going to understand it more in 10/20/30 years than today. But they will feel glimpses!) It’s charming and inspiring. What drove you to write it? Did you feel the need, or the inspiration?
No Fadeouts is a complicated one for me. It was originally about re-connecting with old friends – I really do have a friend who does not like songs that fadeout, which is the first line (and because of him all December Friend songs have actual endings and do not fadeout). Then no fadeouts came to represent speaking up in the face of adversity (not letting your voice fadeout). So it became more of a call to action with indirect shoutouts to various people in my life. When I play it on acoustic or listen to it, I picture each person I’m singing about, so it does become very personal. I like that it closes out the album. At the end of the day, we need speak up (for whatever we believe in) and not be complacent.
The members of December Friend live in different areas, which seriously reduces the potential for live shows. Does that change how you approach songwriting and recording?
To some degree it’s actually freeing because I don’t have to figure out how to re-create the songs live. I write them to be fully produced and to serve as recorded nuggets of where I’m at musically at the time. Some could more easily translate to a live performance, but we don’t shy away from using all the technology that is available to us in the recording setting. I tend to like rich production, although there are some more stripped down songs on this project, like No Fadeouts. At some point I would like to do a very simple acoustic project. Maybe that’s next and then you can catch me at the coffee shop.
How will you be celebrating the release of In a Warmer Way?
I guess pretending I know how to engage on social media and trying to get the word out. Of course I want people to hear this album and I am proud of this batch of songs, and I realize not performing limits the exposure we will get. So I have my work cut out for me. Many thanks to you for sharing the December Friend story. Please check us out!
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