Lindsay Fuller – You, Anniversary

Lindsay Fuller was born in Birmingham, Alabama and raised by an ex-NFL player and a dressmaker/painter. Nowadays she spends her time living in Seattle, but her Southern Gothic upbringing left a mark on her songwriting, which is largely influenced by storytelling. In a short period of time, she has drawn comparisons to Nick Cave, Gillian Welch, Johnny Cash, Patti Smith and Lucinda Williams. One of Fuller’s common themes is death, which you may have gathered from the cover art for her latest release, You, Anniversary, due out March 27th on ATO Records. The darkness in her songs is an attempt to shed light on the honesty of death, rather than hide behind the denial of it.

“My hope with a song is that I create some sort of a longing inside the person hearing it. Whether it’s a longing to turn off my song or whether it’s a longing to think about something. I just want some sort of reaction. I want my music to mean something and to stir emotions in people.” – Lindsay Fuller

The title of the album is taken from a poem by W.S Merwin entitled, “For the Anniversary of My Death.” In his poem, Merwin takes a look at the fact that he passes the future anniversary of his death every year without knowing it. She sings a duet with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls on the title track, where she reveals a portrait of a person who is familiar with their own mortality but is frustrated by death’s ability to undo everything they’ve achieved in life. Lindsay recorded the album live at engineer Ryan Freeland’s (Ray LaMontagne, Joe Henry) Los Angeles studio, Stampede Origin, over the course of three days with producer Paul Bryan (Amy Mann, Grant Lee Phillips). The record includes Jay Bellerose on drums, Chris Bruce on electric guitar, Paul Bryan himself on bass and mellotron, and Jebin Bruni on keys. Lindsay’s acoustic guitar is present on every track but one. Her singing is deep and full of grit, as she builds songs from the bottom up. Listen to how she approaches “One More Song” with her low voice bursting through the surface as the song reaches its climax. The song is about the suicide of a friend and the video features Lindsay in a bath of blood and a rubber ducky. “The video involves the fact that religion is capable of demonizing anything, even a rubber ducky. So we have to be discerning and ask lots of questions of people at pulpits, especially the ones who have the exorcist on speed dial,” says Lindsay Fuller. You can see the video below. Lindsay is currently on tour supporting Amy Ray. Check the dates on her website.