Songs: Molina - Magnolia Electric Co.’s latest a condensed quadruple helping (by James Stewart)
Songwriter Jason Molina has carved a niche for himself through his work with the now defunct Songs: Ohia project, the currently functioning Magnolia Electric Co., as well as his own solo material.
Drawing upon a lexicon of American traditional and country-inflected rock ’n’ roll, Magnolia Electric Co. create a brooding but never oppressive atmosphere, haunted by ghosts and illuminated by Spanish moons. Highly personal yet widely relatable, Molina’s work strikes a chord with the listener while avoiding easy drama and cliché.
Originally envisioned as four separate full-length releases, Magnolia Electric Co.’s latest effort, Fading Trails, is the result of a wealth of material that, upon completion ran the risk of costing an overwhelming amount for label Secretly Canadian to release and for Molina to support.
“Necessity played the largest part in releasing [Fading Trails] more than anything else,” Molina explains. “Our label actually suggested the idea of pulling a sampling from each of the recordings and releasing them as one album. We thought it worked well as its own album, and it’s easier to tour behind one release, as opposed of four at once.” He laughs.
Fading Trails comprises work from four separate recording sessions: Nashville Moon, Black Ram, Shohola, and the yet-untitled sessions at the legendary Sun Studios, the birthplace of rock ’n’ roll.
Drawing several songs from each album in sequence, the record meanders from lush composition to hushed bedroom demos and back again. As interesting a listen as it is, the album lacks a truly cohesive bond that one can’t help but feel would be present in the unabridged versions of each album. However, the potential and execution present on Fading Trails make for a compelling listen.
Drawing a mere sampling of songs from such a rich pool might’ve proven to be a daunting task for some, but the ever-prolific Molina took such chores in stride.
“The songs that we chose weren’t really agonized over,” he explains. “We just picked a couple songs off of each and we found that they all had a real kind of unified feel, lyrically and thematically.”
Sessions varied in approach and execution, some being the result of tour-tested material, and others being composed almost entirely in the studio.
“I tend to write with the record as a whole in mind–you end up with these songs crystallized as an artifact of humans playing together in a room,” Molina says of the differences inherent to the sessions. “Each batch of songs was written close to the session dates, and would have been totally different with other people’s involvement.”
FOUR ON THE FLOOR
Tragedy permeated the recording sessions, as preparations for July’s Nashville Moon sessions were interrupted when Molina and staff of Electrical Audio studios, led by legendary engineer Steve Albini, learned of a car accident that claimed the lives of several close friends, including Michael Dahlquist, drummer of Chicago mainstays Silkworm. An offer to postpone the sessions was made, but the shock instead galvanized the proceedings into an intense and meditative affair.
“We knew we had to finish what we started. There was a real obligation to the work under the circumstance that pushed us to complete the recordings. There was a lot of illness and heartache around all of the sessions,” Molina says, also referencing the stroke suffered by his mother during the Black Ram sessions in Richmond, VA, a collaborative album with Camper Van Beethoven’s David Lowery.
“It seemed that everything I had been connected to was falling to pieces around me in the last two years. But it would have absolutely killed to have to stop writing or touring at the time.”
With so much emotion surrounding the recording sessions, the songs began to run the risk of becoming overburdened by sadness and raw emotion. Accepting this, Molina allowed the circumstance to inform his work honestly and completely, refusing to edit any of the results.
“If anything came out, it was natural and it was honest, so it was left in. Every time you record there will be outside influence informing your work, whether things are going perfectly or if you’re in the middle of a disaster. I feel very lucky to be able to deal with these situations through making music.”
MOLINA ELECTRIC CO.
A solo artist as well as through his work with Magnolia Electric Co., Molina finds himself challenging his audience with albums that refuse to follow a predictable pattern. Though the principal songwriter for the band, Molina acknowledges the contributions put forth by other members.
“Collaboration is critical,” asserts Molina. Recounting a recent performance in which the band was unexpectedly joined on-stage by Howe Gelb at the end of their set for an improvised half-hour performance, Molina explains, “It’s a very similar approach in the studio as well. It’s an important way to approach writing and recording, to be brave enough to leave parts open and allow people to come in and bring something of themselves to the songs.”
As prolific a songwriter as he is, Molina accepts that many of his songs are going to be left behind in the dust. With an approach based on maintaining the integrity of the album over the individual song, he leaves any lingering want to revisit or rework past efforts by the wayside.
Molina remains reservedly optimistic that the albums comprising Fading Trails will see release in their intended form one day.
“I would love the albums to come out eventually but, logistically, the label will have to [figure] out with what works for them. I’m just going to let time take care of it.”