Friendship | Photo by Rachel Del Sordo for WXPN | racheldelsordophotography.com
Michael Cormier of Hour and Friendship meditates on memories in “Dinners” from new solo album
In the two years since the release of his debut solo album, Michael Cormier has been very busy. He has released two albums with Hour and one with Friendship. Now, the Philly based multi-instrumentalist has announced his second solo record. Titled Days Like Pearls, the album is set to be released on June 9th via Cormier’s own Dear Life Records.
In advance of the full album, Cormier has shared the single “Dinners.” The delicate track is in the same folk-vein that marked Cormier’s debut, Make Believe It’s Nothing. Lyrically, it describes what Cormier remembers of eating dinner as a small child. It has that special nostalgic quality about it that can make you feel like Cormier’s memories are your own.
Memories are the record’s center. The full album details Cormier’s childhood in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. It sounds as foggy and pretty as Fairhaven is. In a press release, Cormier described the strong bond between his memories and the album:
“The songs capture these memories as I can see them in this moment along with my anxieties of how they are only getting more inaccessible. The images and sensations contained within are growing fuzzier and farther out of reach. They are fleeting snapshots, both flimsy and colorful.”
With this latest album, Cormier has stepped away from the brisker and bolder sound he toyed with on the latest Hour record. Instead, he clings closer to the minimal folk that has been present throughout his whole career. Through his group and solo work, Cormier seems to have been chiseling away at modern folk, leaving just the most evocative and colorful sounds. With his latest release, Cormier just might have cracked the code.
Check out “Dinners” below. Days Like Pearls will be released on June 9th via Dear Life Records, and Cormier plays an album release show that day at Secret World with Erika Nininger, Ana Woulfe, and Michael Boris. Details on that show can be found here.