“‘Top of the World’ was a beautiful chord structure Jason (Mozersky) had, that we all sat and strummed together on acoustic guitars live in the studio with upright bass and brushes on the drums. It instantly felt so warm and welcoming. I knew I wanted to sing it way lower than normal, so we got Kat Edmonson to sing the melody with me. Sort of a Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra vibe. Lyrically it’s pretty straight forward. It’s such a short, honest piece, I really tried hard not to let the words get in the way. I’m happily married and with a beautiful daughter and find my own life to be pretty damn great. Meanwhile the world around me crumbles. We bounce from one shit storm to the next, and try desperately to keep it together.”
All Streaming Platforms
The first single “San Antone” tells an alternate history of the town Noah and Jason Mozersky grew up in. Noah Lit on the song: “I wanted to tell a mystical noir story about a San Antonio that only existed in my high school imagination. San Antonio is about the nicest city one could ever hope to visit, but perhaps there’s a dark witchy undertone, Robert Johnson sold his soul to record in the Gunter Hotel downtown off the Riverwalk, what else could be hiding in its candle lit cobblestone alleys? Having Charlie Musselwhite play harmonica on the track is also a dream come true. Charlie has played harmonica on most of my favorite records, and he is truly an unbelievable player.”
The music leans heavily into Noah and Jason’s many years in Austin. Dark blues rhumba with country ballads. Singer songwriter aesthetics meet blazing guitar solos and danceable 12 bar tunes. Hammond B3 drives the vintage guitars, and Beatles-esque 12 string Rickenbackers, while string sections sweep above in Roy Orbison arrangements. Noah leans into a deeper, lower register croon and growl. Part Leonard Cohen, part snarling dog, the lyrics flow like shoal creek over limestone. Guest vocals by Kat Edmonson and Lauren Harris, add ethereal chords, and full throated whimsy.
The live band is an eight piece country, rock, blues explosion. Their sold out first show at the iconic Antone’s, downtown Austin brought echoes of old Austin into a new updated package. Like a classic car with a Tesla Engine, Grackles is all that was Austin, through a thoroughly modern lens.
