John Fullbright - The Liar (2022) Hi Res

If you cant say it, you dont have to, sings John Fullbright on Bearden 1645, the opening track to his new record The Liar, out September 30, 2022. The song details Fullbright finding refuge in playing the piano, starting as a child and still today. For fans, it may feel like a bit of a rebuttal to Happy, the opener from 2014s Songs, one of several in his repertoire that speak explicitly about mining ones angst in order to make music. In that way, Bearden 1645 is also a firm nod to the fourth wall: Fullbright knows youre thinking about his songwriting. He is, toobut not quite the way he was before. The public at-large hasnt heard much from him since the critically lauded Songs, a chasm of eight years that seemed unthinkable for an artist with so much hype surrounding his early career. Why did it take so long? Honestly, I dont know, and thats been the scariest question to think about and the hardest one to answer, Fullbright said. Maybe it was a tacit rejection of mounting industry pressure, mixed with a little fear. Or maybe it was the adjustment to a massive upheaval of his way of life. Whether we bore witness or not, its been a critical period of change for Fullbright, now in his 30s. Since his last release, he moved out of rural Oklahomathe aforementioned Bearden has a population of about 130 peopleto Tulsa. Once there, he worked to build a place for himself in the context of an established and vibrant musical coterie, performing often as both a bandleader and, more curiously, a sideman: storied loner John Fullbright lugging a piano from this small stage to that one with an uncharacteristic looseness. Its been a process of learning how to be in a community of musicians and less focusing on the lone, depressed songwriterjust playing something that has a beat and is really fun, Fullbright said. Thats not to say there are no songs on this record where I depart from that, because there are, but there's also a band with an opinion. And that part is new to me. The Liar was recorded at Steve and Charlene Ripleys farm-to-studio compound in northeastern Oklahoma. After Steves passing, Charlene flirted with the idea of selling the studio property, so Fullbright mobilized quickly to ensure he was able to record there before it changed hands. He threw together a band made up of, as Fullbright calls them, the usual suspects. Anyone fleetingly familiar with Oklahoma music will recognize the roster, which includes Jesse Aycock, Aaron Boehler, Paul Wilkes, Stephen Lee, and Paddy Ryan, all of whom are in more bands than seems possible. Along with a few more friends stopping in to lay down takes, they finished the songs and tracked the album with engineer Jason Weinheimer in a whirlwind four days. It was such a collaborative thing with some really cool voices, Fullbright said, expressing surprise at the ease of the process. It's just like playing music in Tulsa.