Field Medic, the moniker of Los Angeles-based folk artist Kevin Patrick, has just released new single 'used 2 be a romantic' from his forthcoming album 'fade into the dawn' that will be released on April 19th via Run For Cover Records.
When asked about the origins of the song, Patrick gave this statement to The FADER:
"I was on tour supporting rock bands as I often am, & generally when I take the stage audiences are willing to chill out & listen to some mellower songs for my set. Sometimes it’s a game of give & take, but for the most part it turns out all right & I hear a lot of “I don’t like acoustic music, but I liked you.
There was a particular show in New York at this venue that was sold out at 500 capacity, but I swear could fit another 500 people. It’s this giant warehouse in Brooklyn & the stage is in the far corner & the bar on the complete opposite end. I fought my way through the crowd with my two guitars & boombox to set up, & when the house music died people were still raging & chatting & clinking their glasses. I started off with a number with a huge beat hoping to win their attention but it became clear to me after a few songs in, people just weren’t going to be quiet & listen at all. I'm not the kind of person that feels like people should pay attention to me just because I’m standing there on the stage - I'm more than willing to work for it, but when it becomes obvious that I’m not even going to get that chance it can feel very disheartening. This particular show was a record breaking case of what my friends & I call “clam chatter”. I powered through the set & walked off stage early. Disgruntled, all I wanted was to go have a smoke & get a few drinks in me to forget what just happened, but since I was far from home & tour without a tour manager or merch person I had to put my stuff away & immediately face the fray to go stand around at merch hoping to make some sales to turn the night around in some spiritually meaningless, but financially sound way.
I was hungover on amtrak on my way to Boston the next day & wrote the song in my head. I played it that night & then the first thing I did when I got home from the tour was record the song in a frenzy to expel those bad feelings. It was never even written down on paper, it was just a blast of internalized feelings & I’m glad to have it out. The lyrical content actually makes me a little uneasy listening now because it’s so revealing. Tour is weird."
Pre-order link for 'fade into the dawn': HERE
Recently, The Line of Best Fit called 'henna tattoo', the first song released from the album, "disarmingly honest" while Paste Magazine said, "...his anxious infatuation is presented as a passing, unadorned outpouring, conflicting thoughts and emotions rushed to paper, then tape, using only the implements Patrick had at hand."
The new album 'Fade To Dawn' features ten sparse, acoustic tracks that reckon with our perceptions of success and self as they face down the inevitable complications that arise from realizing any hard-won dream.
During the recording of 'fade into the dawn', Patrick found himself going through a number of tumultuous changes: he relocated to Los Angeles from San Francisco, where he’d lived and recorded on and off for several years; he left the world of day jobs behind in order to tour year-round; and he decided to quit drinking, only to return to it halfway through a particularly gruelling run of shows. It was the sort of emotional roller-coaster that he would normally work through in song, but even the simple act of writing seemed profoundly more complicated than ever before. Patrick had always written candidly about doubt and darkness and anxiety, but 'fade into the dawn' required him to dig deeper than ever before here, blending black humour and bold introspection as he weighs fantasy against reality and searches for meaning in the mundane.
Patrick writes of this process, "I had to learn to let go again, because the best songs are the ones that happen inexplicably, that feel like they come out of me almost against my will."
Field Medic's radical honesty is audible on every track of 'fade into the dawn'. The minimalist acoustic arrangements and lo-fi production aesthetic, along Patrick's cutting lyrical wit, all combine to produce an album that reflects his natural confidence as a songwriter, even as he gives himself permission to question this self-conception with each ensuing verse.
'fade into the dawn' tracklist: 1) used 2 be a romantic 2) i was wrong 3) this bottle's my lover, she's just my friend 4) henna tattoo 5) hello moon 6) tournament horseshoe 7) songs r worthless now 8) mood ring baby 9) everyday'z 2moro 10) helps me forget...
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