''Now Only'' is the ninth studio album by

Mount Eerie Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum (also of The Microphones) is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. ...

, the solo project of American musician

Phil Elverum Philip Whitman Elverum (; born May 23, 1978) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and visual artist, best known for his musical projects The Microphones and Mount Eerie. Based in Anacortes, Washington, in the mid-2000s he began ...

. It was released on March 16, 2018, on Elverum's

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

P.W. Elverum & Sun. Like the preceding Mount Eerie album ''

A Crow Looked at Me ''A Crow Looked at Me'' is the eighth studio album by Mount Eerie, a solo project of the American musician Phil Elverum. Released in 2017, it was composed in the aftermath of his 35-year-old wife Geneviève Castrée's diagnosis with pancreatic ...

'', ''Now Only'' is a concept album in the aftermath of the death of Elverum's wife, the cartoonist and musician Geneviève Castrée; Elverum described it as the second part of that album. The album was entirely written and produced by Elverum, and recorded in the room in which Castrée died. The album departs from ''A Crow Looked at Me's'' raw and intimate style of writing, intending, instead, to answer grander and more introspective questions about Elverum's life after Castrée's death. Lyrically, the album focuses on themes of the aftermath of death and the lingering ghostly presence of the deceased. It continues the use of direct lyricism and nearly spoken delivery, first seen in ''A Crow Looked at Me. Now Only'' is musically similar to ''A Crow Looked at Me'', although it the songs are longer and featuring some more diverse instrumentation. To promote the album, he released the singles "Distortion" on January 17, 2018, and "Tintin in Tibet" on February 20, 2018, and undertook tours of North America and Europe. ''Now Only'' was an immediate and widespread critical success; critics discussed the perceived sense of sadness and hope found in the album. It appeared on multiple year-end lists. Elverum's subsequent album '' Lost Wisdom Pt. 2'' (2019) served as a continuation; furthering the themes of Castrée's illness and death.

Background and composition

Phil Elverum, Geneviève Castrée (retouch)

In 2015, four months after the birth of their first child,

's wife, Canadian cartoonist and musician Geneviève Castrée, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She died at their home in

Anacortes, Washington Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman. According to Elverum, ''Now Only'' is "part two" to ''

''. After releasing ''A Crow Looked at Me'' in 2017, Elverum decided that he did not want to play any of his older songs because they seemed "irrelevant" and so continued to write in order to have enough material to go on tour. Elverum wrote the album on pieces of paper left over from Castrée, noting their sentimental quality. The writing process took place almost immediately after ''A Crow Looked at Me.'' The album was recorded in Elverum's house in the room in which Castrée died. Moving on from the raw

catharsis Catharsis (from Greek , , meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. In its lite ...

of the previous album, Elverum approached the writing of Now Only from an introspective perspective, attempting to answer the question of how Castrée exists in his life post-death. Elverum described this as the "thesis of the record, the question I'm poking at" The album cover is a picture of Elverum's refrigerator. It features a

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

quote: "Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes", photos of wildlife, Beat Happening and Castrée, postcards, portraits and friends' writing.'''' Elverum chose to use his refrigerator as the album cover upon realizing how the images displayed on it had subconsciously influenced the lyrics.''''

Music and lyrics

Overview

The lyrics deal with a number of topics such as the life Elverum and Castrée lived, "the absurdity of the bigger picture" of Elverum's life and Elverum playing the songs in public. Like in ''A Crow Looked at Me,'' time plays a significant role, with the range of events and dates being more extensive.'''' The lyrics takes on a more direct descriptive manner rather the than the poetic style of his music before Castrée's death. In comparison to ''A Crow Looked at Me'' the lyrics are "stranger, sometimes facetious".'''' Elverum described the songs present on the album as "deeper and broader" than those on ''A Crow Looked at Me''. Elverum sings in a direct, sing-speaking, "stream-of-consciousness" manner. Despite every song dealing explicitly with Castrée, the central focus of the album is Elverum and his perspective on death. His perspective ranges from "ruminative, cosmic

existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

to carefully observed banality". The songs are musically similar to those on ''A Crow Looked at Me'' but longer, averaging seven minutes each, compared to ''A Crow Looked at Me's'' averaged less than four minutes. Elverum explained that the reason for this change was his interest in "having a more nuanced conversation." They have also been said to feature "richer instrumentation". The songs also feature multiple

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

and follow non-linear narratives. Just like ''A Crow Looked at Me'' the theme of the absurdity of performing initmate material in public while pretending otherwise is present as is the theme of contextualising death, particularly in the song "Two Paintings by Nikolai Alstrup". The theme of "shifts in memory and posterity" which Elverum called the theme of album is also present, such as in songs like "Distortion". The role of art within the grieving process is also a recurring motif.

Songs

The title of the song "Tintin in Tibet" refers to ''

Tintin in Tibet ''Tintin in Tibet'' (french: Tintin au Tibet, link=no) is the twentieth volume of '' The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. It was serialised weekly from September 1958 to November 1959 in ''Tintin'' magaz ...

'', the twentieth volume of the comics series ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comi ...

'' by Belgian cartoonist

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...

. A copy of ''Tintin in Tibet'' owned by Castrée previously appeared in the cover art of ''A Crow Looked at Me.'' Thematically similar to ''A Crow Looked at Me'', the song details Elverum's memories of Castrée before her illness. It opens with a major chord. The song along with others on the album incorporates multiple tempo and instrument changes such as the transition from guitar chords to melodic

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

s played on a classical guitar. The song also features cymbal crashes and

snare SNARE proteins – " SNAP REceptor" – are a large protein family consisting of at least 24 members in yeasts, more than 60 members in mammalian cells, and some numbers in plants. The primary role of SNARE proteins is to mediate vesicle f ...

rim hits. The second track "Distortion", which has been described as an 11-minute epic, deals with the ideas of memory and mortality. Across its six verses, Elverum contemplates how one will be remembered and how Castrée lives on through his memories. It, like many of Elverum's past works, opens with heavy distorted guitars. Alongside that it features guitar arpeggios, distorted

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

bass notes, vocal

harmonies In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

and piano trills. The instrumentation is evocative of his previous black metal work. The song references Jack Kerouac and his daughter with Elverum noting a resemblance between Castrée and Jan Kerouac. It also references Elverum's childhood memory of his

great-grandfather Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic gra ...

's funeral in particular the impact of seeing his corpse and a pregnancy scare he experienced at age 23.'''' The title track which has been described as the centerpiece of the album. It features a "playful" recitation of the phrase "People get cancer and die." It's notable in the context of the album and Elverum's discography as a whole due to it functioning as a

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

which Elverum admits that he's "maybe never written" before. The phrase is intended to repersent the "absurdity of everything" with the clash between the "catchy and pretty" instrumention and the grim lyrics representing "the clash between the facts and experiencing beauty and devastation in the same moment." Elverum reflects on his time spent in hospitals, the absurdity of playing his "death songs" to audiences at a music festival outside of

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and the success of A Crow Looked at Me. The song uses the Arizonan deserts as a reflection of Elverum's "self-discovery and coping." In the song "Earth" Elverum references "I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots" by the Cascadian

black metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...

band ''

Wolves in the Throne Room Wolves in the Throne Room is an American black metal band formed in 2002 in Olympia, Washington, by brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver. They have released seven full-length albums, two live albums, and one EP to date. They have stated one of the f ...

''," The song details Elverum discovering pieces of Castrée's bones in the area where he spread her ashes. Elverum was careful with how he portrayed this moment framing it not as gory, gratuitous, or shocking, merely a reflection of the truth. It features a grunge style opening reminiscent of his 2008 EP '' Black Wooden Ceiling Opening'' and his 2009 album '' Wind's Poem'' along with

power chord A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on ...

s, open hi-hats, finger-picked acoustic guitar and

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

accompaniment. "Two Paintings by Nikolai Astrup" refers to Norwegian painter

Nikolai Astrup Nikolai Astrup () (30 August 1880 – 21 January 1928) was a Norwegian modernist painter. Astrup was a distinctive, innovative artist noted principally for his intense use of color depicting the lush landscapes of Vestlandet featuring the trad ...

and his paintings ''Midsummer Eve Bonfire'' (ca. 1915) and ''Foxgloves'' (ca. 1920). Elverum chose Astrup upon realizing that the phenomenon of "observing the transition from a living person into a memory" he is experincing with Castrée, once similarly happened to Astrup and to "every person who's ever been alive." The lyrics contain Elverum pondering the occurrence of his death such as flight over the Grand Canyon suddenly crashing. The opening lyrics "I Know No One" are a reference to the opening track on his 2005 album '' No Flashlight''. The melody is reused from his song "Who?" from his 2008 album '' Lost Wisdom''. The final track "Crow, Pt. 2" is a continuation from "Crow", likewise the final track from ''A Crow Looked at Me''. The song is more energetic than "Crow" although it still retains the previously established dark tone and features finger-picked acoustic guitar. While still directed to Castrée, Elverum's daughter is the central focus of the song, mentioning her sense of grief. Throughout the song and the album as a whole Elverum lists a "series of symbolic incarnations" of Castrée, the areas and ideas in which he sees Castrée however he ultimately admits that he doesn't see her in anything, anymore.

Release and promotion

On January 17, 2018 Elverum announced that he would release a new album and go on tour, performing select North American dates. Alongside the announcement Elverum released the first single "Distortion" to positive reviews, netting the "Best New Track" distinction from ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' and being called the best song of the week by ''Under the Radar''. The second single, "Tintin in Tibet" was released on February 20, 2018, again to positive reviews, appearing on ''Under the Radar's'' list of the 12 best songs of the week''.''

Reception

''Now Only'' received critical acclaim. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album has received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 82, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 19 reviews. Sam Sodomsky of ''Pitchfork'' called it "part memoir and part magnum opus" and "his most harrowing and physical description of decay". Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' said, "Elverum still sounds lost in fathomless pain, struggling to get on with his life while terrified of letting his wife's memory fade". Nick Hasted of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' wrote, "Its lyrics are a tidal, seemingly undifferentiated tumble". Robert Ham of ''Paste'' felt a personal connection to Elverum and his loss, relating it to the passing of

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

's wife, writing, "Through the art that Elverum and Oswalt have made manifest in the wake of their wives dying, I feel like I know them with an uncomfortable intimacy. As much as I marvel at Annihilation or Now Only, I feel like I want them back on this planet, too." he also wrote, "Now Only is still as wrenching and direct as its predecessor, but concerns itself, at times, with the bitter truth that, sooner rather than later, he'll be gone, too". Thomas Britt of ''

Popmatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' said that the album "will be of interest to Mount Eerie devotees but feels more downbeat and less necessary than its predecessor"." Robert Christgau, writing for ''Vice'', said, "you have to admire the no-fuss complexities of his survival album—in particular his realization that it isn't just the artist's body that can't survive, it's the artist's body of work". Skye Butchard of ''

Loud and Quiet ''Loud and Quiet'' is a British bi-monthly music magazine that focuses on new music from underground indie, alternative, electronic and hip hop artists. History and profile The magazine was founded in January 2005 by Stuart Stubbs as a home-prin ...

'' initially gave the album a perfect ten but later noted that rating the album or calling it a masterpiece " eemedwrong". Many writers noted that the album sounded more hopeful than ''A Crow Looked at Me'' and had more diverse instrumentation. Heather Phares of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

'' said, "this album isn't quite as devastatingly sad as its predecessor, and on songs such as "Crow, Pt. 2," there's a lightness when he sings "you're a quiet echo on a loud wind" that wasn't there before" and "his use of sound is even more evocative". ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' said, "Where Crow occupied a numb, purgatorial present tense, the new record leaps around like a wandering mind, to vivid anecdotes from the singer-songwriter's past". Alex Hudson of '' Exclaim!'' speaking of the more diverse instrumentation said, "the result is an emotionally nuanced meditation on death that is both heartbreaking and hopeful".

Accolades

''Now Only'' appeared on numerous year-end top lists by several publications. Such as ''

,'' ''The Daily Emerald'', ''

Digital Trends Digital Trends is a Portland, Oregon-based tech news, lifestyle, and information website that publishes news, reviews, guides, how-to articles, descriptive videos and podcasts about technology and consumer electronics products. With offices i ...

,'' ''Earbuddy'', '' Exclaim!,''

KCPR KCPR (91.3 FM) is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed to San Luis Obispo, California. Owned by California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, the station is operated by students from its on-campus studio locat ...

'','' ''

'', '' Noisey,''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, ''

,'' ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...

,'' ''The Skinny'', ''Slate'', ''

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, ...

,'' and ''Treblezine.'' Songs such as "Tintin in Tibet", "Distortion" and "Now Only" also appeared on year-end top lists by ''Treblezine, Pitchfork,'' and the ''

Phoenix New Times ''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue ...

,'' respectively. American singer-songwriter Kevin Morby included the album on his list of his favorite albums of 2018.

Track listing

Personnel

*Phil Elverum – songwriting, vocals, production, mixing, guitars, bass, drums, piano, keyboards

Release history

References

Notes

External links

* {{Authority control 2018 albums Albums recorded in a home studio Mount Eerie albums Concept albums Works about cancer