Youth In A Roman Field, the project headed by Brooklyn based indie rock violinist and vocalist Claire Wellin, has announced a new album, ‘Get Caught Trying,’ which will be released on November 11th via Better Company Records. Today, we’re here to give you the first listen of the lead single off of that album, ‘Nightswims,’ which will officially be released tomorrow, and you can pre-save the track at the following link.
‘Nightswims’ is a dark and heavy track which delivers one emotional wave after another with its bleak lyrics and despondent tone. It’s such a masterfully crafted song, that you may very well find yourself reminiscing of some of your darker days when you were drowning in despair.
Claire shared her own personal reasons for writing the track, and gives a little bit more insight by saying:
I wrote ‘Nightswims’ in the fall of 2016 and winter of 2017, in my apartment in Queens. It explores the difficulties of creating and sustaining intimacy in a digitalized world, expressing the disappointment, rage, and sadness I was, and still am, feeling about the realities of life in America. I am a heavy yet restless sleeper and have had absolutely insane dreams for as long as I can remember, many of which involve water in various creative and terrifying ways.
These dreams intensified during a deep, dark heartbreak that happened to coincide with the general timing of the 2016 election (haha) and have continued ever since. This is by far the darkest song from our new record, and is special as it was the breaking point from which my writing, and the rest of the album, transformed into an exploration of the thread between myself and the women who came before me, bringing healing and lightness in the process. We are now once again in a ‘darkest before the dawn’ moment, and releasing the song now is an acknowledgement that we are in pain, we are in trouble, and we will only get through it together.
This is the only song on the new album that was recorded before the pandemic, and therefore the only song we recorded live as a band. It’s also special because there was a significant amount of structural input from each member of the band. We gathered at Virtue & Vice studios in Brooklyn, NY with my co-producer and dear friend Allen Tate and played it live for pretty much the first time that day, recording in a few hours in one room. Little did we know it’d be the last time we would record together for a very, very long time.
The lyric video was filmed by Tiffany Topol, with editing by Tiffany Topol and Scott Stangland, along with text animations by Liz Maney
More From Youth In A Roman Field
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
“Youth in a Roman Field is the surrealist folk project of musician, writer, and activist Claire Wellin. The band’s progressive sound (described as a combination of ‘Appalachia, cayenne pepper, and ghosts’ and ‘like Radiohead but also folk music’) is reflected both in their inventive recordings and intimate, endearing live performances. Sweeping vocals, dynamic string loops, woven, textured guitars, and percussive bass come together to create music that gives the audience space and time to feel, reflect, or just take a breather. Their upcoming album ‘Get Caught Trying’ explores self-worth, power, loss of faith, care, and collective healing; a timely release as we emerge into a new era of American life. Their unique ability to transform their training in traditional folk, jazz, and classical music has seen the band successfully grow a fan base from the ground up, forging deep bonds over the past ten years.
The band includes Claire Wellin (vocals, violin, concert ukulele) Tiffany Topol (vocals, baritone ukulele, keys) Scott Stangland (guitars, vocals, keys) Cassidy Stirtz (viola, vocals) and Jamie Mohamdein (upright bass, vocals). They started in Chicago, moved to and reconvened in New York, and are currently based in Queens with cameo appearances in upstate NY, central PA, and Northern California (pandemic life!) The band has performed in multiple formations, adapting show-to-show from solo to trio to full band setup. They recorded ‘Get Caught Trying’ in Brooklyn, NY and remotely with Allen Tate (co-producer), Kyle Joseph (engineer), Ryan Mannix (remote engineer), and Carter Stirtz (remote engineer).”