New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Walter
Martin (lyricist, co-writer, and multi-instrumentalist of The Walkmen) released today his third solo album My Kinda
Music via Ile Flottante Music. As the second installment of his
Juvenile Series, it follows 2014's award winning and critically acclaimed album We're All Young Together. Set to a rollicking musical backdrop, My Kinda
Music tells vivid stories of music-making, family history, and self-discovery. This morning, NPR
Music debuted Walter's video for the album's closing track "It's a
Dream (Night Version)" which is composed entirely of old home movies he discovered on a historic preservation archive collecting six decades of Asian American home movies.
"I don't know of any artist making sweeter, more heartwarming music than Walter Martin," stated NPR Music. "They celebrate the best of humanity; love, innocence, joy, empathy and the wonder of existence itself. It's the kind of music that can bring tears to your eyes from marveling at all the beauty in the world."
My Kinda
Music features Martin's signature knockabout and quirky sound filled with delicate musical moments, but his focus is clearly on the stories. His vocals are the centerpiece of the album where he's developed a plainspoken narrative approach that mixes genuine emotion and absurd humor in an entirely natural way. Notable contributors include mixers Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses) and Gabe Wax (War on Drugs, Beirut), both of whom put their unique stamps on the tracks they mixed.
Album highlights includes "Hey Matt" which features The National's Matt Berninger who gives Walter singing lessons and the two friends discuss a recent (and real) rejection by his idol Randy Newman. The song has been featured on Pitchfork and NPR's All Songs Considered who called it "a wonderfully fun song" and stated "You don't need kids to enjoy this record." The second single "Trip on a Ship" debuted on Billboard and finds Walter and special guest
Laura Gibson singing to each other about the complications of an innocent crush. In "The Everglades", which was featured on Consequence of Sound, Walter explains the joy of family road trips and his fear of being eaten by panthers. Stereogum further embraced My Kinda
Music stating "The album is pure fun, solely because the material is so real. It's clear
Martin is doing this because he finds total enjoyment in it."
Martin's interest in narration and the art of storytelling goes back to his childhood. "I'll never forget being a kid listening to Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon Days on long family car trips. I'd be lying in the nauseating back seat of our minivan transfixed by the warmth and humor of his stories. And up in the front my parents would be experiencing the exact same thing. My goal with this album is to induce that same kind of wonderful family hypnosis."
Hear Walter's song "
Sing To Me" (feat.
Karen O) featured in the new Apple iPhone commercial which began airing worldwide this week, check it out HERE.
My Kinda
Music follows 2014's We're All Young Together which garnered much critical praise, produced a long-standing #1 single on
Sirius XM's family station, and included songs featured in major advertising campaigns for iPhone and Android. Additionally, We're All Young Together won a Parents' Choice Award and earned
Martin an invitation to the Sydney Opera House where he performed the album in its entirety.
Track List:
01) The Wishing Well
02) Trip on a Ship (feat.
Laura Gibson)
03) Hey Matt (feat. Matt Berninger)
04) Family Tree
05) Child, The Man Said
06) My Kinda Music
07) The Everglades
08) Where'd You Go Uncle Joe?
09)
Marco Polo
10) It's a
Dream (Night Version)
