The Album Leaf Announce ‘One Day XX’ A Rework of ‘One Day I’ll Be On Time’; Share “Vermillion (JMJL Rework)”
July 9, 2021 BY Nettwerk
Prestigious ambient electronic project The Album Leaf announced they will release their new LP, One Day XX, on September 17, 2021. The record is a 20th-anniversary edition rework of their career-launching record, One Day I’ll Be On Time. When approaching the rework, 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.
Today, he shares the reworked edition of his beloved single, “Vermillion,” now heightened by an agile and robust full-band arrangement. LaValle’s mission was to embody where he’s taken “Vermillion” on stage over the years, in collaboration with the musicians in his live band: David LeBleu (drums), Brad Lee (bass, trumpet), and Matt Resovich (violin). He adds, “Vermillion is a staple song in all of my shows. For the rework, I wanted to capture what it’s become after playing it live for so many years (20) it has become a whole different beast from when I first recorded it. I’d always wanted to feature Matt Resovich’s violin work, but also wanted to capture the sound of the full band’s performance. Dave LeBleu tracked his drums remotely in Gainesville, Brad Lee tracked bass in (San Diego) I tracked my Rhodes Piano at my studio in Los Angeles, and Matt Resovich (Joshua Tree) did the same for his Violin. James and I took these tracks to build a new version with new life for this rework.”
With the rework, LaValle arrived at an experiment that spoke to artistic ingenuity and progression. “My first thought was, ‘oh this song is on guitar, let’s do it on the synth, or this song is on the Rhodes, let’s do it on something else, but more than that, I wanted to give these songs a new sense of space and depth, to see how far we could go and wide we could get.”
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.
