Kyle Forester is one of those Indie Rock Dudes who’s had a hand in a bunch of cool shit. He was a member of Crystal Stilts and Ladybug Transistor. In recent years he’s been a touring member of Woods. That gig led to his participation in David Berman’s lone Purple Mountains album last year. The guy’s been around, making good music, for a minute.

Sometimes he even releases solo albums. Forester will follow up 2016’s self-titled debut this year with a new one called Hearts In Gardens. Its lead single and opening track is out today, a gleaming, languid roots rocker called “Know What You’re Doing” that sounds like Real Estate covering Jackson Browne.

Forester shared these insights about the song:

I read this thing one time about how John Lennon’s favorite songs oh his own were the ones he wrote in one sitting, like “Across The Universe.” I’m no John Lennon, but I also wrote this song really quickly and it’s probably one of the reasons I feel a lot of fondness for it. I suppose it’s about being surprised by the expectation one feels as a adult to “know what you’re doing,” like just in general. That’s never felt particularly natural to me. Michael O’Neill (Crickets, High Time, MEN) plays what is in my opinion a killer guitar solo in the middle and I’m really proud of the fact that this one has a real “outro,” I really like outros.

Me too, Kyle. Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Know What You’re Doing”
02 “Marigold”
03 “Strange Vision”
04 “Hearts And Gardens”
05 “Turn Of The Century”
06 “Another Day”
07 “Up Their Sleeve”
08 “[Interlude]”
09 “Lily”
10 “On The Way Down”

Hearts In Gardens is out 2/21. Pre-order it here.

CREDIT: Michael Stasiak