Although we’ve come to associate multi-instrumentalist and producer extraordinaire Jonathan Wilson with the sound of Laurel Canyon, the truth is he continues to demolish the mannequin of stereotype with every release. Fans of his much vaunted Gentle Spirit album, for example, would have been more than a little taken aback with the comparitively epic, piano drenched beauty of Fanfare just a couple of years later. But it is perhaps his forthcoming March release, Rare Birds, which truly sees him step into hitherto untrodden territory, with this utterly gorgeous new single and highly effective video which does actually make you feel as though you’re joining Wilson and his very special guest Laraaji on a journey through the clouds.
Jonathan says: “One day, one of my musical heros Laraaji came into my studio to just experiment and record some music. I had the ditty ‘Loving You’ lying around, (it was a song I wrote from a feeling or inflection of a word I heard John Lennon emote in one of his songs) and I then put down a simple little drum machine beat along with the piano and vocal that you hear now. Laraaji then beautifully chanted over the song, one take … then he played his cosmic zither, undulated gracefully with his ipad, and truly shaped the scope of the track.”
‘Loving You‘ is that cool breeze on the back of your neck on a stiflingly hot day, or the golden ray of sunshine through the doldrums of winter. If ever there was a song to fall in love to, this would be it.
‘Loving You‘ is available now, and Rare Birds will be released on March 2nd through Bella Union.
