Singer-songwriter Jonathan Wilson returns with Eat The Worm, a new album set for release via BMG on September 8. Out today is “Charlie Parker,” an epic six-minute song featured on the LP accompanied by a music video created by Wilson’s wife, Andrea Nakhla, utilizing AI technology.
The acclaimed producer, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist produced and played most of the instruments on the 13-track follow-up to 2020’s Dixie Blur. While Wilson, currently on tour as part of Roger Waters‘ band, recorded Dixe Blur in Nashville, Eat The Worm was created at his own Fivestar Studios facility in California’s Topanga Canyon.
“There are a lot of details to the songs. I felt like this album was also time for me to expand my sound, so there are way more strings and horns than I’ve ever done before,” Wilson explained of spending the last two years on Eat The Worm. “I wanted to apply some of the sonic palette of some of the productions I’ve worked on to my own shit. There’s a lot of experimentation, and almost none of the songs started as me with a guitar. I really wanted something that sounded fresh and new.”
Guitar, piano, drums and keyboards were among the instruments Wilson played in making his new album. Jonathan recruited Jake Blanton (The Killers) on bass with string and horn sections featuring the likes of C.J. Camerieri (Bon Iver), Rita Andrade (Kanye West), Wynton Grant (Miley Cyrus, Hans Zimmer) and Paul Cartwright (Lana Del Rey, Mary J. Blige).
“A lot of this batch of songs is a reaction to the production stuff that I do,” Wilson added. “I would be in the studio, doing long days with folks, and I’ll have some wild off-the-wall ideas and they’re like, ‘no, no, no, that sounds crazy, JW.’ So I would save them up for my album. I’m finally at a place to feel totally free to take chances and resist the urge to dumb things down. It’s got to be kind of strange.”
The Andrea Nakhla-directed “Charlie Parker” video was made with stable diffusion Artifical Intelligence technology. “Charlie Parker” arrives after Wilson unveiled “Marzipan” and its video created using the same process back in March. Jonathan Wilson shared the following about the song “Charlie Parker” and its visual, stating:
“‘Charlie Parker’ is one of my favorite songs on Eat the Worm. It’s a fantastical and fictitious flight of fancy and fantasy. It also touches on the ups and downs of my life over the past decade as a touring musician, and more. It’s filled with strings, horns, fuzzy guitars, tubular bells, and a few bebop elements as well, hence the name. In a way, ‘Charlie Parker’ encompasses what the new record is all about: adventure, fidelity and fun. We’ve created another amazingly trippy AI video to accompany it, and I think it captures the mood of the tune perfectly.”
Watch Jonathan Wilson’s “Charlie Parker” video below:
Eat The Worm Tracklist
- Marzipan
- Bonamossa
- Ol’ Father Time
- Hollywood Vape
- The Village Is Dead
- Wim Hof
- Lo and Behold
- Charlie Parker
- Hey Love
- Stud Ram (Vinyl Exclusive)
- B.F.F.
- East LA
- Ridin’ in a Jag
