Michelle Branch has been in the news lately for less-than-ideal reasons: Upon learning that her husband and musical collaborator Patrick Carney (of the Black Keys) was cheating on her, she slapped him, leading to domestic assault charges that were eventually dropped. But Branch also has a new album coming out next week, The Trouble With Fever, which she worked on with Carney all throughout the pandemic. Today Billboard published an in-depth interview about the project, which includes a surprising reference to the late Silver Jews and Purple Mountains mastermind David Berman.

When asked if the process of returning to songwriting after a long layoff was nerve-wracking, Branch responded:

It was, and I really procrastinated on finishing the lyrics for some of them. Patrick would be like, “Michelle, we’re doing vocals tomorrow, have you finished those new lines?” And I’d be like, “Uhhhh… I guess I have to do this!” [Laughs.]

But I found inspiration in a very unlikely source. David Berman, from the Silver Jews, has a book of his lyrics that’s up in the studio. And he passed away in 2019 before I ever got to meet him or got to know him. But I attended his service, and heard all the amazing people there speaking about him – and I was crying so hard, even though I never met him.

And for some reason, he felt like the patron saint of this record lyrically, because I would sit there as we were working, and just kind of thumb through that book. Just the cadence, the way he writes, was really inspiring to me – the way that he’s just so direct. I feel like, especially in writing sessions with songwriters, you’re always trying to be clever, and find a metaphor or whatever. And I was like, “What am I actually trying to say? I should just say it.” I just feel like I learned so much by reading the lyrics, and I would often find myself, as I was writing, saying, “What would David do?”

The interview mostly talks around the situation with Carney, but Branch does share, “[Promoting the new album] been the best distraction ever. I think if I didn’t have this record coming out, I would probably be in bed crying all day.” She adds, “It’s actually made me more excited about going out on the road and playing these shows in the next few weeks, and being reacquainted with who I am on my own, without a partner. It’s been a while since I’ve not had that creative partner with me, as far as like – going on tour, planning, rehearsing and figuring out sounds through live shows. All that stuff is so intertwined.”

The Trouble With Fever is out 9/16 on Audio Eagle/Nonesuch/Warner.