It’s late at night and the air is cold but there’s a soft transfixing blanket of sound that’s there for you. That’s Your Friend. That’s Taryn Miller, a 24-year-old, living in Lawrence, Kansas who, when she isn’t busy working at a record store, makes the kinda music that you sink into. Or more so, it sinks into you. On her Facebook fan page, she lists her genre as “an unpopulated place” – but when you listen to Miller’s music, you don’t feel so alone. Instead, it’s like a welcome smile from a kind stranger on the bus. It’s finding an old ticket stub in your pocket. It’s a long walk by yourself, where even though there’s no one around, you feel connected with everything.
Originally stylized as Y[our] Fri[end], Taryn Miller self-recorded her debut 2o13 EP Jekyll/Hyde, a cozy collection which Domino subsequently picked up in 2014. Now, Miller looks back on the EP calling it “raw and innocent”.
And indeed, her sound has already grown. After playing the festival circuit and touring with Courtney Barnett, Miller hit the studio and is now set to release her debut LP, titled Gumption.
While writing Gumption, Miller headed out to her family’s farm in Dexter, Kansas. “I was sitting with myself so much, I got to know myself in ways I liked and ways I didn’t like,” Miller confides in a press release. While back in Dexter, she took a field recorder along for her nostalgic adventures, grabbing snippets of various familiar sounds found around her world. These sonic slices have since morphed into the bones of Gumption. Bubbling creeks and the flapping of pigeons wings, all layered and mixed in with Millers calm, steady and honest vocals. “I paid attention to textures,” Miller explained. “I was trying to remove myself from an approach that I had followed before, but to be able to bring in that melodic element that is most inherent to me, and marry it with a more sonically meditative landscape.”
Just melt away to Gumption single “Heathering” below.
Miller recorded Gumption with producer Nicolas Vernhes (the War on Drugs, Deerhunter) at the Rare Book Room in Brooklyn. As she told Consequence of Sound of the process…
“There was a point when I sat down with Nicholas and he looked over and said, ‘Let’s just make a weird fucking record,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what I want to do.’”
The weirdest part? How it taps you on the shoulder and gets you checking in with yourself. It’s the kind of music that slows you down for a second and makes you notice your surroundings. The welcome pause. When you actually watch the sunset and don’t just take a picture for Instagram. Hypnotically, it sinks in. So take a deep breath, and sink in.
Follow Your Friend on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. This spring, You Friend will be touring North America with Alex G & Porches. Check out the dates below…
YOUR FRIEND TOUR DATES:
Wed. Mar. 9 – Washington, DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
Thu. Mar. 10 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
Fri. Mar. 11 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle – Backroom
Sat. Mar. 12 – Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover Festival
Sun. Mar. 13 – Orlando, FL @ Backbooth
Mon. Mar. 14 – Tallahassee, FL @ Club Downunder
Wed. Mar. 16 – Houston, TX @ Walters
Sat. Mar. 19 – Dallas, TX @ Spillover Music Fesst
Mon. Mar. 21 – Denver, CO @ Lost Lake
Tue. Mar. 22 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Wed. Mar. 23 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest
Thu. Mar. 24 – Portland, OR @ Analog Cafe
Fri. Mar. 25 – Seattle, WA @ Vera Project
Sat. Mar. 26 – Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt
Mon. Mar. 28 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Tue. Mar. 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
Thu. Mar. 31 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory – Constellation Room
Fri. Apr. 1 – San Diego, CA @ Che Cafe
Sat. Apr. 2 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge
Sun. Apr. 3 – Albuquerque, NM @ The Co-Op
Tue. Apr. 5 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
Wed. Apr. 6 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry
Thu. Apr. 7 – Madison, WI @ UW Student Union
Fri. Apr. 8 – Grinnell, IA @ Grinnell College – Gardner Lounge
Sat. Apr. 9 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Sun. Apr. 10 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Cafe
Mon. Apr. 11 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
Tue. Apr. 12 – Boston, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
Wed. Apr. 13 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Thu. Apr. 14 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Fri. Apr. 15 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Gumption comes out January 29th, 2016 on Domino Records. Pre-order it via iTunes here.
On The Rise is our spotlight series on new and emerging artists. We last featured The Tennyson. Stay tuned for next week’s On The Rise artist!
Photo credit: Crystal Lee Farris