Last week I went to see Case Oats, the Chicago indie folk-rock band where singer-songwriter Casey Gomez Walker joins forces with drummer Spencer Tweedy, who you've seen behind the kit with Waxahatchee, his dad Jeff, etc. I'd enjoyed last year's debut album Last Missouri Exit, but Gomez Walker's songs really came alive for me onstage. A big reason for that was guitarist Max Subar, who was absolutely cooking up there.
So it was pleasing to learn that Subar recently signed to Merge Records, the same label that works with Case Oats, to release his debut solo album Anything Could Be. The album is coming in July, and its opener, the title track, is out today. Although I was impressed by Subar's six-string acumen last week, his own music is weary, understated singer-songwriter fare that reminds me a lot of latter-day Wilco and solo Jeff Tweedy, to further tangle up this knot of Chicago connections. "Walking through our memories," he sings near the end, amidst gorgeous guitar cycles. "I guess they're really mine/ You can have any you please." It's gentle, beautiful stuff.
Subar offers this interpretation:
This song is about waking up to life and its offerings. How choosing curiosity can spark, growth, meaning and a sense of possibility when we’re left feeling stagnant or lost. I hope it’s a beacon for others, a reminder during trying times that anything could really be.
When I was a kid, my friend and I would sneak onto a nearby golf course late at night just to fish some pond with headlamps on. There was pure discovery in it, no expectations, lots of patience and content in that time spent - regardless of the outcome. Life for me has continued to feel better as I learn to live this way. That's a lot of what this record is about, too.
Watch Bobby Butterscotch's video for "Anything Could Be" below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Anything Could Be"
02 "See Saw"
03 "Cat At My Door"
04 "I Never"
05 "Like You've Known It"
06 "History"
07 "As The Weather"
08 "Way Up"
09 "Everything Is"
10 "Words Unkept"
11 "The Day Will Be New"
TOUR DATES:
07/07 Evanston, IL @ Harbert Payne Park
07/21 New York, NY @ Nightclub 101
07/22 Philadelphia, PA @ Ortlieb’s
07/23 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
07/24 Chicago, IL @ Hideout
08/22 Green Lake, WI @ Avrom Farm Party
Anything Could Be is out 7/17 on Merge. Pre-order it here.
