On "Every Morning," the first single from J Mascis' new solo album Tied to a Star, the Dinosaur Jr. singer/guitarist was struggling to get through the day; "Every morning makes it hard on me," he depressingly whined. To summon the strength to head out into world he had to softly beg "Oh baby won't you see me?" before leaning into a characteristic guitar solo. You could tell if he had any company at all, he'd make it through. If not, he might sit in bed all day.
Though a guitar solo is absent from the considerately strummed folk number "Wide Awake," and it's a few hours earlier, everything else is intact. Mascis is still sitting up in bed worrying about what the day will bring. "I'm wide awake," he repeatedly intones over a delicate acoustic guitar melody. Listening to Mascis' "slacker" moan in such a sparse setting, you can almost hear his eyelids closing and him sliding further down the bedroom wall back onto the mattress. His sleep, or lack thereof, all depends on someone ending his lonely spell. He's been bad at interactions since the early days of Dinosaur Jr. and now is no different. "Walking by your will," Mascis recounts in a tender duet section with Chan Marshall of Cat Power. It doesn't sound like much, but even standing up and walking is a victory.
Tied to a Star drops August 29 through Sub Pop.
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