I’M WITH HER ANNOUNCE SOPHOMORE ALBUM 'Wild and Clear and Blue'

I’M WITH HER

ANNOUNCE LONG-AWAITED SOPHOMORE ALBUM,

Wild and Clear and Blue out May 9th via Rounder Records

UK SHOW AT LONDON’S BARBICAN ON MAY 29th

“I’m With Her’s songs are folky on the surface and skeletal, yet intricate within. They carry tales that are both intimate and far-reaching, involving heartbreak, separation, resilience, mortality and constant, restless travels.” – The New York Times

“Purity is the brilliance behind I’m With Her.” – NPR Music

“Together their sound is both ethereal and purposeful, a combination of searing musicianship and tender vocals” – The Guardian

“The trio’s vocals and instrumentals share an intimate sonic environment, closely recorded so listeners can almost feel their breath as they trade lines and blend voices.” – The Los Angeles Times

Beloved folk trio I’m With Her – comprised of multi-GRAMMY winners (7 wins, 31 nominations collectively) Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins — will return this Spring with a stunning new record entitled Wild and Clear and Blue, out on May 9th via Rounder Records. Recorded in New York at both The Outlier Inn in the Catskills and The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, Wild and Clear and Blue was produced by Josh Kaufman—a member of Bonny Light Horseman and multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger and producer who’s worked with Bob Weir and The National— and mixed by D. James Goodwin.

The result is the long-awaited sophomore album from a close-knit alliance of highly esteemed musicians, each graced with a deep understanding of folk tradition and unbridled passion for expanding its possibilities. The group’s first album led to a GRAMMY nomination, wins at the Americana Music Association Awards and International Folk Music Awards, #1s on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums and Folk Albums charts (where it remained charting for 7 months), and much more. Now, on their forthcoming record, I’m With Her bring their luminous harmonies to a soul-searching body of work about reaching into the past, navigating a chaotic present, and bravely moving forward into the unknown.

PRE-ORDER WILD AND CLEAR AND BLUE NOW

Alongside today’s album announcement is the release of “Ancient Light,” the stunning first single and album opener of Wild and Clear and Blue. “Ancient Light” is a tender meditation on ancestral ties and cycles of life, adorned with a lavish instrumental section featuring Watkins’ artful layering of fiddle and cello. With Jarosz on lead vocals, “Ancient Light” embodies a spirit of subtle resolve as she calmly narrates the havoc around her (“While everything’s unraveling/I’m building a fire/Sparks and smoke rings/Fill up the night/When it catches/I’ll be swimming in the ancient light”).

Of the track, the band says: “We started playing around with this riff in a Silverlake bungalow in October of 2022. We were still at the beginning of writing this album, and as these images of joyful melancholy floated towards us, we found ourselves reaching for them in a free-flowing way that felt wholly new to us, yet completely natural. This song is a journey, and (producer) Josh Kaufman encouraged us to open the song up and let it breathe. ‘Ancient Light’ sets the tone for the entire album, communing with our past and future selves.”

With the song, I’m With Her shares an incredible music video, full of self-recorded behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Wild and Clear and Blue. Listen to the song now and watch the video below.

As previously announced, I’m With Her will play a one-off London show at The Barbican on Thursday 29^th May. Tickets: https://imwithherband.com/

Credit: Alysse Gafkjen

Tracklisting

Ancient Light
Wild and Clear and Blue
Sisters of the Night Watch
Different Rocks, Different Hills
Standing on the Fault Line
Mother Eagle (Sing Me Alive)
Only Daughter
Find My Way to You
Strawberry Moonrise
Year After Year
Rhododendron

More on I’m With Her and Wild and Clear and Blue:

Watkins, Jarosz, and O’Donovan first discovered their near-telepathic chemistry during an impromptu performance at the 2014 Telluride Bluegrass Festival and quickly co-founded I’m With Her. With the group’s formation, the trio introduced an essential new force into the world of folk music. Since delivering their critically lauded debut See You Around and standalone singles like “Call My Name” (winner of the 2020 Grammy for Best American Roots Song), the trio have routinely taken time out from their individual careers to dream up songs together—eventually arriving at a new album exploring themes of ancestry, lineage, and the collective human experience.

In a departure from the stripped-back intimacy of See You Around—a 2018 release that turned up on best-of-the-year lists from the likes of the New York Times—Wild and Clear and Blue centers on a far more elaborate sound informed by the band’s extensive touring and acclaimed performances at festivals around the globe. “Because we’ve played together so much at this point, we have a much stronger sense of what we’re capable of creating together,” says Jarosz. “We wanted to be open to anything on this record, and give ourselves more space for the solo sections to really breathe.” Produced by Josh Kaufman, the album finds each member handling a variety of instruments (mandolin, octave mandolin, guitar, and banjo for Jarosz; guitar and piano for O’Donovan; fiddle, cello, and organ for Watkins), instilling a potent vitality into every track. “Sometimes in the studio songs end up losing a bit of their sparkle, but with this record everything kept tumbling forward in a very natural, positive way,” says Watkins. Also featuring drummer JT Bates (Andrew Bird, Taylor Swift) as well as Kaufman’s contributions on everything from lap steel to Wurlitzer, Wild and Clear and Blue ultimately adds a bold new urgency to I’m With Her’s delicate entangling of lived-in narrative and fable-like storytelling.

Recorded at two separate New York studios (The Outlier Inn in the Catskills and The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck), Wild and Clear and Blue takes its title from a song written after the passing of two of their most beloved musical forebears, Nanci Griffith and John Prine. “When I was nine my mom took me to see Nanci Griffith and I sent a note backstage requesting ‘Ford Econoline,’ and she played it at the show,” says O’Donovan. “We wrote ‘Wild and Clear and Blue’ thinking about growing up so in love with music and then actually making music ourselves—it’s very specific to our own lives, but I think there’s something universal about having those childhood memories tied up in the music your parents played for you.” The first song written for Wild and Clear and Blue, the exquisitely wistful track soon catalyzed I’m With Her’s album-wide reflection on generational bonds and self-realization. “So much of this record is about connecting with your past and figuring out what you want for your future, finding yourself and finding the people you love,” says Watkins. “It’s a journey that everybody takes, and this is our way of singing through it.”

All multi-Grammy-winners with deep roots in the folk scene, Watkins, Jarosz, and O’Donovan founded I’m With Her in 2014. Over the years, their profound sense of kinship has only intensified, often allowing for a certain charmed fluidity in the creative process. “There were so many wonderful moments in the studio where we noticed commonalities between the songs that we sometimes hadn’t intended, either melodically or harmonically or even lyrically, with a line in one song almost responding to another song,” says Watkins. “It all feels very cyclical in a way that adds another dimension to the meaning of the songs, and shows the sincerity of feeling we all brought to the album.”

With Jarosz, O’Donovan, and Watkins sharing writing credits on all 11 songs, Wild and Clear and Blue owes much of its beauty and power to the generosity of spirit embraced by each member. “When we write together it’s almost like we’re a three-headed creature—there’s never any need to take ownership of ideas, and always an ease of letting go when something isn’t working,” says O’Donovan. And for I’m With Her, that sense of musical communion has proven endlessly rewarding on multiple levels. “One of my favorite things about being in this band is actually listening to my bandmates,” says Watkins. “I’m such a fan of these two people, and it’s a huge pleasure to listen back to this album and remember how amazing it is that I got to make it with them.”