Gregory Uhlmann; Photo Credit: Maren Celest
On his forthcoming debut album Odd Job, Los Angeles (via Chicago) composer/songwriter Gregory Uhlmann combines lush, hypnotic, minimalist chamber-pop with compelling, introspective folk melancholy. Nuanced interplay between guitar and voice is central to much of the record, at times using bass clarinet, pump organ, viola, among many other sophisticated acoustic flourishes to fill out this gorgeous, meditative body of work.
Uhlmann’s first solo endeavor travels a different, more intimate path than much of his more established output so far – like the rhythmically globetrotting experimental rock outfit Fell Runner and his improvisational jazz trio Typical Sisters – aiming for subtlety and slow immersion on Odd Job.
Speaking about this song The Big Takeover is premiering today, “Forgo The Thought”, Uhlmann says, “The lyrics of this song arose from a desire to play with language in a stream of consciousness way rather than in a storytelling style. As a songwriter I sometimes feel pressure to share deeply personal thoughts, and that pressure can get in the way of the writing process at times. This piece was a bit of an experiment – an approach to writing from a different slant, without the emotional weight of songwriting as a form of memoir, which I gravitate towards.”
Uhlmann continues, “The piece feels more playful. The song came together not unlike a collage both lyrically and musically, borrowing samples from other unfinished songs and lifting phrases jotted down in a notebook I carried around NY on a trip. Musically there is a fairly conceptual rhythmic structure that happens in the middle section involving two time signatures, one in fifteen and one in four. These happen simultaneously (sort of like two planets orbiting at different rates) and line up with each other eventually.”
