J Mascis has confirmed details of his first ever solo album titled 'Several Shades Of Why'.
You don't really need an introduction to J Mascis do you? Y'know... grey of hair, savage of riff, American songwriter with over twenty years experience having steered Deep Wound, Dinosaur Jr, the Fog and more.
Now, though, J Mascis is set to enter uncharted territory. The grunge pioneer is set to step out using his own name, completing an album of delicate songwriting which veers away from the punishing volume so often associated with the singer.
Recorded at Amherst Massachusetts’ Bisquiteen Studios, recent sessions saw J Mascis call in a few favours. Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) and many more appear on 'Several Shades Of Why' adding an all star lustre.
However it is J Mascis who shines through. Turning down the volume, guitarist places more emphasis on his songwriting. Delicate, at times even pastoral, influences range from English-tinged folk to the West Coast songwriting school.
A muted affair, it is nonetheless clearly the work of J Mascis. Issuing a statement, the guitarist explained that without the influence of record label Sub Pop the album may not have been completed.
“Megan from Sub Pop has wanted me to do this record for a long time,” J says. “She was very into it when I was playing solo a lot in the early 2000s, around the time of the Fog album (2002’s 'Free So Free'). She always wanted to know when I’d do a solo record. ('Several Shades of Why') came out of that. There are a couple of songs that are older, but the rest is new this year. And it’s basically all acoustic."
"There’s some fuzz, but it’s acoustic through fuzz. There’re no drums on it, either. Just one tambourine song, that’s it. It was a specific decision to not have drums. Usually I like to have them, but going drum-less pushes everything in a new direction, and makes it easier to keep things sounding different.”
J Mascis is set to release 'Several Shades Of Why' on March 14th.