About a month ago, I launched and announced Headphone Community – a special place where independent artists can connect with their supporters in an intimately curated space. The first and currently featured artist is James Murray, whose music I have been covering for over a decade now on this site. We’re only halfway through the month, and so far, I have already published an exclusive track premiere [unavailable anywhere else], an interview with Murray [he’s usually very reserved about sharing his process and technique], and a shout-out to his imprint Slowcraft [including a 50% off discount code to anything in the label’s catalogue, exclusive to the members]. And, yes, I tend to believe that for only $1 a month, as a subscriber, you get immense value for your contribution, not to mention that every dollar raised will go back to the artist! So, I feel very optimistic about the entire project and (on some mornings) proud.
But there is another thing that has been happening behind the scenes. As I began to highlight this artist and spend more time with his sound throughout the month, I started to truly connect with his music on a level much deeper than ever before. Yes, I have already lauded his 2022 album, Careful Now, as one of the best of that year, but as I listened to it again and again and again, it started to open up beyond its sonic medium. It became more than just music – a conversation between a composer and a listener, and suddenly… I really heard. This active and heightened experience of listening reminded me of the very early days of discovering the beauty of music – when I used to nestle with an album for months and years at a time. In the last greatly accelerating decades of social media, algorithms, and time-sliced attention spans, I feel like I’ve been robbed of that. And now, I’m bringing it all back. Won’t you join me on this journey?
Today’s exclusive track premiere is from Murray’s upcoming EP, Clearings, scheduled to be released via Home Normal in April. It’s an alternative mix of one of the pieces from Careful Now, showcasing the evolution of the track with an intimate glimpse into its transition and the final shape.
Read more about this alternate version directly from James on Headphone Community.
