fanclubwallet, the Ottawa indie band who released the 2024 EP Our Bodies Paint Traffic Lines, started out as Hannah Judge's solo project and grew into a full band. One of the members who joined up was Judge's partner Michael (Miki) Watson, who makes their own music under the name Preloved. This summer, Watson will release their debut Preloved album Willow, which they recorded alone on a series of camping trips around Ontario Provincial Parks.
Michael (Miki) Watson spent about three years collecting the songs on Willow. They're all spare acoustic tracks, and Watson recorded them in nature, on a borrowed portable battery. It's an almost entirely solo affair, with Watson writing, playing, recording, mixing, and mastering everything by themselves. Hannah Judge co-writes and appears on a few tracks, though, so one other person was involved.
Lead single "Motorcycle" is one of the tracks that features Judge. It's a short, lo-fi acoustic track about really wanting to own a motorcycle, figuring that maybe it'll fix everything in your life. It's got a real outsider-art charm to it. Watson says, "'Motorcycle' is the lighter side of this period of my life. Last spring, I really wanted a dirtbike, and there was just no way I could afford one or even begin to entertain the idea. So I wrote a song with my partner Hannah [Judge] about it instead." Below, check out the carnival-set "Motorcycle" video and the Willow tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "R2R (Quits)"
02 "Heading Out"
03 "Granite Hill"
04 "Motorcycle"
05 "Canton"
06 "Interlude"
07 "Mile 11"
08 "Willow"
09 "Heart Stops (Birds Talk)"
Willow is out 7/31 on Lauren Records.
