Jettison the Valley

There’s no shortage of lost and lonesome folk troubadours, but few have the choirboy voice of Carter Tanton. The U.S. singer’s breathy lilt is an otherworldly instrument, soaring over uncluttered acoustic songs concerned with love and loss. Written in the wake of a failed relationship, *Jettison the Valley* unites pastoral folk with moody indie pop: See the lush “Fresh Faced Claire;” gorgeous opener “Twentynine Palms,” featuring Sharon Van Etten; and the broken-hearted haunting of “Through the Garden Gates.” It’s quiet music for hard times.

By the time he was 15, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Carter Tanton was already playing bar shows in his hometown of Baltimore. Two years later, he caught the attention of Gary E. Smith, best known for discovering and producing The Pixies. After working together for a year, they parted ways, but Tanton never slowed down. In the mid-2000's he released a couple of EPs with his band Tulsa, prompting Rolling Stone's David Fricke to claim "...his indie-seraphim voice is not of this world...", and after a particularly impressive live set KEXP's John Richards said "...he's one of the best singer-songwriters in the country today." Over the years, Tanton has toured and recorded with numerous artists including Marissa Nadler, Strand of Oaks, Lower Dens, and The War on Drugs. In 2012, he assembled Freeclouds, his first collection of songs for Western Vinyl. A couple of years later, Tanton moved to England where he wrote all of the songs on his new album Jettison the Valley. His old friend and collaborator Marisa Nadler contributes lead vocals to "Jettison the Valley", and Sharon Van Etten sings on "Twenty-Nine Palms" and "Through the Garden Gates".

Carter Tanton has played with artists like Lower Dens, Twin Shadow, and Marissa Nadler. For his latest solo record, he transforms himself into a Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter, building a record around a single theme: the slow destruction of a relationship.