Sun Kil Moon streaming new album, interviewed by El-P
Mark Kozelek is releasing the new Sun Kil Moon album, Universal Themes, this week (6/2) via his own Caldo Verde Records, and now he’s streaming it in full at his website. As you might imagine, it’s as wordy and specific as ever, touching on things like if Mark really hates Nels Cline and once again revisiting his discovery of Led Zeppelin. Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley is on drums. Check it out here.
Mark also posted an interview that El-P did with him about the album, following Run the Jewels starting a “Suck My Dick Sun Kil Moon” chant at Fun Fun Fun Fest last year. Here’s an excerpt of them talking about the song “Little Rascals”:
El-P: The theme of death and affirmation of life are heavy on this record. its clear that the loss of people you’ve loved has landed you squarely in a place of being grateful to be alive. in my experience i’ve often felt that intensely for a period of time after someone i love passed and then it faded a bit. sometimes it requires energy to remind myself of the things that seem really clear in the aftermath of death. the “holy shit I’m alive and thats great” feeling can slip away. is it with you all the time or does the writing help you remember and preserve it?
Mark: I’m human like everyone else so sure and I can find myself dwelling on the woes that come with being 48, but I tend to snap out of it pretty quickly and appreciate what I have. I still live in an apartment that I shared with someone for 3 years, someone who eventually died at 34 years old. So, sitting in this very place I am, where this interview is taking place, is a daily reminder of her and what she would have given to live another year. There is a great Muhammad Ali quote: “If you’re 50 and you think the same way that you did when you were 20, then you have lost 30 years of your life.” Well, I’m pushing 50, basically – am 48 year old – and I’ve seen things happen in the last 30 years that have given me the perspective that I now have. I’m not walking around in a delusional bubble thinking that me and everyone else I know is guaranteed another 20 years, or even 10. “Curveballs”, as my friend Jude said. Jude is the widow of drummer Tim Mooney. He died at 53.
Read the rest here.
Sun Kil Moon’s tour hits NYC on October 9 at Town Hall. Tickets are still available.
