WE WERE BORN HERE, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?, THE NEW LP FROM THE SECRET BEACH, OUT AUGUST 23, 2024 VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS
WATCH / SHARE “22” HERE
BUY / STREAM “22” HERE
US TOUR BEGINS TODAY
Photo Credit : Little Jack Films // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
The Secret Beach is an ever-shifting group of musicians and co-conspirators orbiting around the songs and voice of Prairie-based songwriter Micah Erenberg. The band moniker – in the same vein as classic groups Guided By Voices, The Byrds, and Tame Impala – helpfully points out that a songwriter is not an island (or indeed, a beach) unto themselves, and the contributions from the involved parties go a long way in making this project what it is.
The new LP, We Were Born Here, What's Your Excuse?, is unquestionably a musical delight (more on that later), but it's also a subtle nod to the oft-overlooked Canadian province of Manitoba, lazily known to many as either a landlocked frozen tundra or the butt of a joke on The Simpsons (hence the album's title). The shuffling, introspective “22” muses on Erenberg's time in Winnipeg's Osborne Village, watching gentrification run rampant while freezing cold for the better part of the year.
Erenberg calls the single, "A song about being young in a frozen, gentrifying shithole. Inspired by the infamous Simpsons’ 'Midnight RX' (season 16, episode 6), where a welcome to Winnipeg sign reads 'NOW ENTERING WINNIPEG. WE WERE BORN HERE, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?'"
"I’d like to dedicate this one to some of Manitoba’s finest street performers," He continues, "Eric the Great, Blue McLeod and Curtis Falk. Frequenters of the Osborne Village strip. The last time I walked through that spot at night, there was no soul to be found. The live music spots were closed, some canned music played out into the street. Eric, Blue and Curtis had moved on to better spots, I guess. I still love that town...yeah, it’s a shithole, but it’s our shithole."
Helmed by meandering 12-string guitar and the lonesome wails of pedal steel, the song's nostalgic qualities are only enhanced by the video that accompanies it, which features a series of snowy, archival footage from the Manitoba Department of Tourism and Recreation.
WATCH / SHARE “22” HERE
BUY / STREAM “22” HERE
MORE ABOUT WE WERE BORN HERE, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?
Musically, one of Erenberg's primary inspirations for this record was the classic Bob Dylan & The Band album Planet Waves. The casual, homespun vibe of that LP had long held a special appeal for the songwriter, and after deep-diving on some of the album's finer details, Erenberg discovered that Planet Waves' producer, Rob Fraboni (also known for his work with the Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, and Tim Hardin, to name but a few) was still active and, as it turned out, still open to working with new projects. After a few phone calls, it was decided that Erenberg would travel to the veteran producer's studio of choice in Connecticut where the two spent five days marinating in the songs. Fraboni offered his enthusiastic perspective on the tunes, shared some of his well-honed musical philosophies, and a friendship was quickly cultivated. The songwriter stuck this experience in his back pocket and used it as fuel to write a few more songs and complete the final mix of the album.
We Were Born Here, What's Your Excuse? is an album teeming with warmth; its 17 tracks casually unfurl spools of intimate texture, hushed melodies, and a wholly inviting atmosphere that puts the listener virtually in the same room as these timeless tracks. The songs – many of them barely cracking the two-minute mark – fly effortlessly by, nodding to many major players in the pop music canon. The spectre of Elliott Smith hovers over many corners of the record, including opener “Beautiful Everything” as well as the achingly tender one-two punch of “Long Distance Gossip” and “Natural Metaphor”. And indeed, whiffs of Dylan and The Band appear throughout, with the latter uniquely evoked in the album's organic, live-band feel, and the former's lyrical mastery mirrored throughout. More contemporary touchstones like Brooklyn indie-folk auteurs Woods and M. Ward (“Where Did It Go?”) are also apparent, and early '00s heroes Grandaddy are called to mind on “LA Haircut”, a cleverly sardonic critique of misplaced ambition.
While Erenberg played a whole pile of instruments on the album himself, The Secret Beach wouldn't be what it is without the help of the carefully selected crew of fellow travellers tastefully deployed throughout the album. We're talking about the sort of players whose first priority is to shine a light on this collection of songs, seeming almost invisible in the apt-ness of their contributions; but repeat listens will have the listener revelling in the finer details, which include vocals and pedal steel from acclaimed country duo Kacy & Clayton, keys and guitar courtesy of Liam Duncan (aka Boy Golden), and duel backing vocals from Duncan and frequent bandmate Fontine. Erenberg captured the album on a variety of classic vintage tape machines, burnishing the album with a sepia-toned analog patina that makes it sound as if it could have been made any time in the last five decades. And while the spirit of Planet Waves looms large, one would be forgiven for hearing hues of early McCartney solo albums, Big Star's Third, and fellow Canadian DIY legend Chad VanGaalen.
WE WERE BORN HERE, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?
01 Beautiful Everything
02 Sunspill
03 Buying You A Garnet Amp
04 22
05 All This Living
06 Have You Seen The News?
07 If You Don't Love Me, Let Me Go
08 Blame Manny
09 Sucked Into It
10 L.A. Haircut
11 Long Distance Gossip
12 Not So Bad
13 Natural Metaphor
14 Where Did It Go?
15 Hat's Way of Walking
TOUR DATES
Feb 22 - Seattle, WA - The Rabbit Box Theatre
Feb 23 - Olympia, WA - Cryptatropa Bar
Feb 24 - Portland, OR - Alberta Street Pub
Feb 25 - Roseburg, OR - House Concert
Feb 26 - Mt. Shasta, CA - Jefferson Center for the Arts
Feb 29 - Los Angeles, CA - Permanent Records Roadhouse
Mar 2 - Long Beach, CA - 4th Street Vine
Mar 29 - Winnipeg, MB - Legion ANAF with MOONRIIVR
