Will Sheff – “Estrangement Zone”

Okkervil River leader Will Sheff has announced his debut solo album, Nothing Special, which will be out in October. He recorded it with his Okkervil bandmates Will Graefe and Benjamin Lazar Davis, as well as Christian Lee Hutson, Dawes’ Griffin Goldsmith, and Death Cab For Cutie’s Zac Rae. The album also features guest vocals from Cassandra Jenkins and Fruit Bats/Bonny Light Horseman’s Eric D. Johnson. It was engineered by John Congleton, Matt Linesch, and Marshall Vore over three separate sessions.

“When I was just a kid, I got caught up in the dream of being a rock and roll star. Like so many other young people, I fell in love with the idea of being called to this glorious path outside of ordinary life,” Sheff wrote in a statement about the album, continuing:

And I ended up in a band with people who felt this same call – especially our brilliant drummer Travis Nelsen, who was like a brother to me. We would trade tales of hilarious antics and outrageous excess and tragic death like they were almost scripture. Travis and I fell out painfully, and he died in the early weeks of lockdown. I think a big part of Nothing Special centers around grieving for him, grieving for everything my friends have lost, grieving for the rock and rock and roll myth, and trying to open my eyes to a more transcendent reality.

Listen to Nothing Special‘s lead single “Estrangement Zone” below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “The Spiral Season”
02 “In The Thick Of It”
03 “Estrangement Zone”
04 “Nothing Special”
05 “Holy Man”
06 “Like The Last Time”
07 “Marathon Girl”
08 “Evidence”

TOUR DATES:
10/07 Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge – Hollywood Forever (Release Show)
11/03 Iowa City, IA @ Englert Theatre
11/04 Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
11/05 Chicago, IL @ Old Town School of Folk Music
11/06 Milwaukee, WI @ Collectivo
11/08 Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk-Chumley Theater
11/09 Grand Rapids @ Pyramid Scheme
11/10 Toronto, ON @ Great Hall
11/11 Ferndale, MI @ Otus Supply
11/13 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
11/14 Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle
11/15 Washington DC @ Black Cat
11/17 Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
11/18 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
11/19 Woodstock, NY @ Colony
11/20 Somerville, MA @ Crystal Ballroom
11/21 Portland, ME @ SPACE

Nothing Special is out 10/7 via ATO Records. Pre-order it here.