STEVE GUNN THE UNSEEN IN BETWEEN

For his second Matador LP, Gunn goes for simplicity, as on psychedelic piano ballad “Paranoid” With Eyes On The Lines, there was a whole web of different guitar things going on. But with this new one I wanted to get back to being able to go into the studio and play and sing at the same time, and not overthink the songs. Also, my songwriting has changed – I’m rethinking my approach, and coming up with simpler structures, whereas before I had these complicated, cyclical timings. [Bob Dylan’s bassist] Tony Garnier was really inspiring to talk to. He was such an awesome, supportive person to have around because he was just like, “Just go in there and sing the song, it’s your song, don’t worry about getting the guitar exactly right. If it’s a spirited take, it’s gonna come through in the vocals.” I really wanted to have a vocally forward album. And Tony was really helpful in that way. And [producer] James Elkington was a really important part of the album – he’s someone who I really trust, he knows me so well, knows my shortcomings, my strengths, all that stuff he can tap into very quickly, so there’s a level of trust there and it’s very comforting to have someone like that by your side when you’re making a record. Meg Baird sings on a few songs too – back in the time when I knew Jack Rose, she was around then. Meg was such an amazing vocalist, and such a supportive friend, so I was really happy that she was able to contribute to the record. For “Paranoid”, I was with James and we were working on some demos, and I said, “Look, I wanna write a song using the most basic chords. I haven’t done that, a major-key song, just straight up.” It was almost like a joke, it just happened instantly. “OK, that’s the song! We’ll do one set of verses, then this Pink Floyd-y improvised thing in the middle and then we’ll just repeat it – it’ll be hilarious.” And that’s how it happened. You listen to some of my favourite Velvet Underground songs and there’s three chords! If the song is good and the lyric is strong, you’re not paying attention to the rest of it, and it coalesces in this magical way.

The Unseen In Between is out January 18 on Matador