Brian Carpenter and the Confessions – “Savior of Love” (audio) (premiere)

If Brian Carpenter is in high demand from such artistic luminaries as Swans, Arcade Fire, Marc Ribot, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Colin Stetson, without even hearing a note of his music you immediately know the band is clearly respected. After a series of avant-garde releases Carpenter has formed a new band that plumbs the darker depths of Americana, creating an “avant-noir” sound in which you can hear faint echoes of modern-day Swans, Timber Timbre, and of course Johnny Cash, which you can hear on the new track “Savior of Love”.

“I was driving back alone after a show on the Hutchinson Parkway from New York to Boston in the wee hours,” Carpenter says. “I was having trouble staying awake. On the Hutch late at night it feels like you’re the only one on the highway…just the headlights and the yellow lines flying past, like David Lynch’s opening to Lost Highway. Suddenly the opening guitar line came to me and then the verse. I was starting to nod off so I pulled over. I just kind of sang it into a tape recorder. Then I played that back and the chorus came next. Then I conked out. I woke up in the morning to a cop rapping his flashlight on the window. Maybe something about being on the edge of consciousness can spark ideas.”

Brian Carpenter and the Confessions’ album The Far End of the World will be released 2 October.