''Solid State'' is the ninth studio album by singer-songwriter

Jonathan Coulton Jonathan William Coulton (born December 1, 1970), often called "JoCo" by fans, is an American folk/comedy singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans. Among his most popular songs are " Co ...

. It was released on April 28, 2017. Coulton describes it as "a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

about the internet, trolls, artificial intelligence, and how love and empathy will save humanity!" Coulton says that the album "has a bit of a concept behind it," with a "character that you follow throughout his life."

Recording

The album was recorded, mixed and produced by Christian Cassan at the Secret Garden recording studio in Brooklyn, New York. The album features additional vocals from

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...

on several songs, including "All This Time," as well as guest guitar work from Dave Gregory on two tracks.

Personnel

All words and music by

All vocals by Jonathan Coulton All instruments and noises by Jonathan Coulton and Christian Cassan except:

- Background and harmony vocals tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9,13 and 15 Dave Gregory - Slide guitar and guitar solo track 5, electric guitars and guitar solo track 11

Bennett Paster Bennett may refer to: People *Bennett (name), including a list of people with the surname and given name Places Canada *Bennett, Alberta *Bennett, British Columbia *Bennett Lake, in the British Columbia and Yukon Territory **Bennett Range **Bennet ...

- Piano tracks 1, 6 and 7

John Widgren John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

- Pedal steel guitar tracks 2, 3, 6, 13 and 14 Roberto Cassan - Accordion track 6 Kenneth H. Rampton - Trumpet and flugelhorn track 11 Ball and Chain horns arrangement by Christian Cassan Produced, Recorded and Mixed by Christian Cassan at The Secret Garden Mastered by

Dave Cooley Dave Cooley (David J. Cooley; born 1970) is an American mastering engineer and audio restoration specialist. His numerous mastering credits include J Dilla's ''Donuts'' and '' The Diary'', Paramore's ''After Laughter'', 40th anniversary release ...

at Elysian Masters

Release

The album was released on April 28, available as digital download, on double vinyl and CD. The album's first single, "All This Time", was released on February 28.

Graphic novel

On April 28, along with the album itself, Coulton released a graphic novel, written by

Matt Fraction Matt Fritchman (born December 1, 1975), better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of '' The Invincible Iron Man'', '' The Immortal Iron Fist'', ''Uncanny ...

and illustrated by

Albert Monteys Albert Monteys i Homar (Barcelona, 15 September 1971) is a Spanish comic writer and illustrator, mostly known for his work in the satirical weekly magazine ''El Jueves'' of which he was the director from 2006 until January 2011. Early life Albe ...

. The graphic novel is meant to follow the same story as the album, but further fleshed out.

Live performances

The album premiered on the 2015 JoCo Cruise, when Coulton played early recordings of the songs "All This Time" and "Don't Feed the Trolls". On the 2016 Cruise, Coulton played "Brave", "Square Things", "All This Time" and "Your Tattoo", all live, with fellow singer-songwriter and friend Aimee Mann. On the 2017 Cruise, Coulton performed two more songs for the first time, "Pictures of Cats" and "Ordinary Man". This was also the first time he played "Don't Feed the Trolls" live, as he only played a recording during 2015. In addition, he performed songs from ''Solid State'' as part of his opening act for

's 2017–‘18 tours for her album ''

Mental Illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

'' for which he had co-written three songs in addition to providing backing vocals and instrumentation. Advance copies of the album were available on both vinyl and CD during the main 2017 tour, along with the accompanying graphic novel and T-shirts.Aimee Mann Live at Town Hall – 4/22/17

Track listing

References

2017 albums SuperEgo Records albums Jonathan Coulton albums Concept albums Science fiction concept albums {{2010s-rock-album-stub