William Fitzsimmons Shares “Angela” From Forthcoming Album ‘Mission Bell’ (Out September 21); AmericanaFest Showcase On September 13
August 31, 2018 BY Nettwerk
Today, troubadour songwriter and music producer William Fitzsimmons partnered with Clash Music to premiere the official music video for “Angela,” the latest single from his forthcoming studio album Mission Bell, a chronicling of the tumultuous last year of his life, particularly of the separation from his second wife (out today via Nettwerk Records).
“’Angela’ is about giving your life to someone and them giving it to someone else, but still not being able to let go of them. It’s about being blinded to reality by one’s emotions,” says Fitzsimmons.
Directed by Ben Phillippo, the music video is a perfect reflection of the challenges, and eventual demise of a troubled relationship. As the protagonist moves through time and place, he sees past versions of them at happier times. The portals become the metaphor for holding on to better times as an attempt to distract from one’s mistakes.
An initial version of the album was recorded in Fitzsimmons’ home studio in the summer of 2017 but was subsequently abandoned during the course of, and as a result of, the separation. In 2018 Fitzsimmons moved to Nashville and spent a month’s time rebuilding the lost record with producer Adam Landry (Deer Tick, T. Hardy Morris, k.d. Lang, Vanessa Carlton). The resulting 10-song album tells the story of a decade-long marriage destroyed and eventually rebuilt from the ground up.
Sonically, Mission Bell is Fitzsimmons’ first analog tape-centric album. The sounds are raw, real, and tangible. The familiar comforts of acoustic guitars are present but now joined generously by synthesizers, electric guitars, drum loops and violins. “Cutting to tape was new and honestly rather terrifying to me. There’s no “we’ll fix that in post” kind of shit going on. What you play is what you’re gonna hear on the record. But there’s a specialness you get in a performance when you don’t have a parachute. You either play it like it matters to you or you don’t and I think that comes through so clearly in the recordings,” says Fitzsimmons.
Album is available for presale here: http://smarturl.it/WFBell.
Tour Dates:
9/13 Nashville, TN @ Americana Fest (Nashville Palace At 7PM)
9/16 Fairfield, CT @ Fairfield Theatre
9/18 Cambridge, MA @ Club Passim
9/19 Northampton, MA @ The Parlor Room
9/21 New York, NY @ Rockwood Stage 2
9/22 Philadelphia, PA @ The Locks At Sona
9/23 Vienna, VA @ Jammin’ Java
9/24 Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
9/25 Decatur, GA @ Eddie’s Attic
Track List:
- Second Hand Smoke
- Distant Lovers
- 17 + Forever
- Angela
- In The Light
- Lovely
- Never Really Mine
- Leave Her
- Wait for Me
- Afterlife
Stay tuned in the coming days for more information.
About William Fitzsimmons:
Mission Bell follows 2016’s Live album and the profoundly personal Pittsburgh series, two mini-albums that tell the story of the grandmother he grew up with (Pittsburgh Volume 1) and the grandmother that he never knew because his father was orphaned as an infant (Charleroi: Pittsburgh Volume 2). Fitzsimmons’ 2014 full-length Lions (produced by Chris Walla/Death Cab For Cutie) debuted at #2 on the Top New Artist Albums’ chart, as well as Top 5 on the Folk Albums chart. The appeal of Fitzsimmons’ sound is indicative of his unique upbringing and consequent life experience. Born to two blind parents, Fitzsimmons grew up in a home where sound – particularly music – was integral to communication. His parents had an assortment of guitars, pianos and other instruments, and introduced young William to the music of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, among others. For many years, armed with a Master’s degree in counseling, he worked as a mental health therapist and only began recording his songs during graduate school breaks. Fitzsimmons’ music has also been licensed to a wide variety of networks including ABC, NBC, MTV, Lifetime and CW and he has been featured in Billboard, NPR, Rolling Stone, Paste, Spin, NYLON Guys, Musikexpress, Uncut, Q Magazine and American Songwriter Magazine.
