In a recent interview with the London Review Bookshop (2024, 00:36:55-00:37:00), the American singer-songwriter, Kristin Hersh, cites: “My songs tell me what to do.”1
Similarly, in an interview with PBS NewsHour (2022, 01:11), Bono suggests that: “Songs - songs are not like your children. They boss you about. … They tell you what to do.”2
This is the audio-only version of the video essay The Path of Totality, inspired by the recent ‘Great North American Eclipse’ and the shape of a record.
Methodological notes
In this voice piece, I hone in on the path of totality (which I must somewhere have tattooed upon me) looking, pixels and proximity, having no time, Kristin Hersh , heiress of loons, and all things circular and slippery, and revamping disappointment.
This post also marks the release of the Blackout Baby (Sam Lou Talbot, 2024a) one cut black vinyl heavyweight 45rpm with original matte mono photographs, housed in a rare sleeve—destined to be held.3
London Review Bookshop. 2024. Kristin Hersh & Jennifer Hodgson: The art of songwriting. [Online] April 29. [Accessed 22 September 2024]. Available from: https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/podcasts-video/podcasts/kristin-hersh-jennifer-hodgson-the-future-of-songwriting
PBS NewsHour. 2022. Bono on activism and connecting music to a larger meaning. [Online]. [Accessed 15 September 2024]. Available from: https://youtu.be/Vm8EnPskrUs?feature=shared
Sherburne, P. 2020. Throwing Muses’ Kristin Hersh on the music that made her. Pitchfork. [Online]. [Accessed 9 April 2024]. Available from: https://pitchfork.com/features/5-10-15-20/throwing-muses-kristin-hersh-on-the-music-that-made-her
References (in script)
Berger, J. 2013. Understanding a photograph. Dyer, G. ed. London: Penguin.
Blanchot, M. 1981. The gaze of Orpheus and other literary essays. Translated by L. Davis. Adams Sydney, P. ed. New York: Station Hill Press.
Gauthier, M. 2021. Saved by a song: the art and healing power of songwriting. New York: St. Martin's Essentials.
Hersh, K. 2024. The future of songwriting. London: Melville House UK.
London Review Bookshop. 2024. Kristin Hersh & Jennifer Hodgson: The art of songwriting. [online]. April 29. [Accessed 22 September 2024]. Available from: https://www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/podcasts-video/podcasts/kristin-hersh-jennifer-hodgson-the-future-of-songwriting
Pothast, E. 2024. Invisible jukebox. Kristin Hersh. The Wire. [Online]. 1 May. Issue 483. pp.20-23. [Accessed 10 April 2024]. Available from: https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/115827/spread/23
Wray, D.D. 2020. Throwing Muses’ Kristin Hersh ‘I knew integrity would pull me into the gutter’. The Guardian. [Online]. [Accessed 9 April 2020]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/sep/09/throwing-muses-cult-band-interview-kristin-hersh
Wu, T. 2016. The attention merchants: the epic scramble to get inside our heads. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Discography
PJ Harvey. 2023. I inside the old year dying. [CD]. London: Partisan.
The Throwing Muses. 1994. Your ghost. Hips and makers. [CD]. London: 4AD.
Bob Dylan. 1976. Desire. [Vinyl]. US: Colombia Records.
Sam Lou Talbot. 2024a. Blackout baby. [Vinyl]. Glasgow: Sam Lou Talbot.
*The quote in the subtitle is taken from Sherburne (2020).
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