Ambient Electronic Artist THE ALBUM LEAF Share 20th Anniversary Rework Album ‘One Day XX’
September 21, 2021 BY Nettwerk
Prestigious ambient electronic project The Album Leaf shares his new LP, One Day XX. The record is a 20th-anniversary edition rework of his career-launching record, One Day I’ll Be On Time. For the album, The Album Leaf creator Jimmy LaValle brought in longtime collaborator James McAlister (Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens, The National) and members of his live band to help re-imagine every arrangement with what he knows now as a composer and performer, celebrating the songs from a different vantage, with technical prowess and the emotional clarity that time and distance can afford.
Jimmy LaValle is quick to point out that this exercise wasn’t meant to cover up mistakes or definitively revise One Day I’ll Be On Time. He wanted to see this career-launching material from a new angle, to revisit the raw takes and underscore the melodies and grooves defined by twenty years of performance. To remember the artist he was in his early 20s and recognize the one he’s become. When asked about how he’d like his fans to hear it, LaValle answers, “I hope they go in with fresh ears, wanting to have a new experience.” An open mind to match the intent of this forward-thinking retrospective project. On September 21st, LaValle will be playing a special sold-out album release show doubleheader at San Francisco’s immersive audio theater Envelop. He is also performing as part of the Long Center’s Lookout with Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith on February 20th in Austin. Buy tickets here.
In 2001, One Day I’ll Be On Time propelled The Album Leaf from Jimmy LaValle’s part-time solo project to a full-fledged live band touring with Sigur Rós (whose lead singer Jónsi just happened to stumble upon in it a record store in Iceland). LaValle, who came up in the late ‘90s San Diego music scene playing in hardcore bands and as a founding member of instrumental rock band Tristeza, found himself at a crossroads with his commitments. After receiving a modest label advance for a solo project, he created a self-recording starter setup, building out the sound with occasional studio access from his day job at a jingle house. The music that emerged — vivid, rhythmic, soaring instrumentals guided by lines of guitar and Rhodes — not only set the path for The Album Leaf over the next two decades of acclaimed releases (for Sub Pop, City Slang, and others), it became a touchstone for the next generation’s wave of melodic and meditative electro-organic music.
Stay tuned for more to come from The Album Leaf.
