''Watch My Moves'', stylized as ''(watch my moves)'', is the ninth studio album by American indie rock musician

Kurt Vile Kurt Samuel Vile (born January 3, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is known for his solo work and as the former lead guitarist of rock band the War on Drugs. Both in the studio and during li ...

, released on April 15, 2022, on

Verve Forecast Records Verve Forecast is a record label formed as a division of Verve Records to concentrate on pop, rock, and folk music. Founding Jerry Schoenbaum of Verve and Moe Asch of Folkways created Verve Folkways in 1964 to take advantage of the popularity ...

. Co-produced by Vile and

Rob Schnapf Rob Schnapf is an American record producer and musician. He was the co-producer (along with Tom Rothrock) of Elliott Smith's albums ''Either/Or'', '' XO'' (on which he also played guitar on the song " Baby Britain"), '' Figure 8'' and ''From a ...

, the album's initial recording sessions began in 2019, during the tour in support of Vile's previous album, ''

Bottle It In ''Bottle It In'' is the eighth studio album by American musician Kurt Vile, released on October 12, 2018 through Matador Records. It features contributions from Kim Gordon, Cass McCombs, Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint, and Mary Lattimore. The album ...

''. The impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, however, resulted in Vile building a home recording studio, OKV Central, at which he, Schnapf and his backing band the Violators worked on the majority of the album's songs across

lockdowns A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...

in 2020 and 2021. Preceded by the singles "Like Exploding Stones", "Hey Like a Child" and "Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)" the album was released to generally favorable reviews.

Background and recording

Work on ''Watch My Moves'' began in 2019, with Vile feeling inspired by the full-band performances of his backing band the Violators during the tour in support of his eighth studio album, ''

'': "I was really into touring as a band and playing live and then because we're all together, somehow get into the studio wherever we are, in a

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

kind of way. You just go in there and play live." In the Autumn of 2019, Vile recorded new material for the album with singer-songwriter and producer

Cate Le Bon Cate Le Bon (born Cate Timothy on 4 March 1983) is a Welsh musician and record producer. She sings in both English and Welsh. She has released six solo studio albums, three EPs and a number of singles. Le Bon has toured with artists such as St. ...

, with one of the tracks from these sessions, "Jesus on a Wire", ultimately appearing on the album. In early 2020, prior to the onset of the

, Vile was in the midst of recording and co-producing

Dinosaur Jr Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ...

's twelfth studio album, ''

Sweep It Into Space ''Sweep It Into Space'' is the twelfth studio album by alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr., which was released on April 23, 2021 through Jagjaguwar. The first single from the album, "I Ran Away", was released on February 23, 2021, with a music vid ...

'', and had performed and recorded with

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

for his ''Speed, Sound, Lonely KV'' EP. Vile and the Violators completed a six-day recording session with

in California, with Vile planning to work on a studio album with

The Sadies The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Dallas Good, Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret and Bruce Good, and nephews of Bria ...

and embark on a solo European tour in the summer. Reflecting on this time, Vile remarked: "I remember I was so exhausted". The

COVID-19 lockdowns Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...

resulted in Vile putting his 2020 plans on hold. Throughout the year, he built a basement studio at his home in

Mount Airy, Philadelphia Mount Airy is a neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. __TOC__ Geography Mount Airy is bounded on the northwest by the Cresheim Valley, which is part of Fairmount Park. Beyond this lies Chestnut Hill. On t ...

, called OKV Central, and took his time writing and recording new material across 2020 and 2021: "If I didn't have some solid songs in my pocket I guess I would have been more stressed out during lockdown, but because I knew I had some solid things to fall back on I knew I could take my time and make this record." Over the next year-and-a-half, Vile balanced home life with his family alongside recording ''Watch My Moves'' with co-producer Schnapf and the Violators: "I thought about this record every single day obsessively since I've been making it. I would just wake up thinking about just wanting it to be amazing." The album was recorded at Vile's home studio OKV Central, in

, with Vile playing alongside his backing band The Violators, as well as

and James Stewart. It was self-produced by Vile in collaboration with Schnapf. Additional contributors to the album include

Chastity Belt A chastity belt is a locking item of clothing designed to prevent sexual intercourse or masturbation. Such belts were historically designed for women, ostensibly for the purpose of chastity, to protect women from rape or to dissuade women and the ...

Stella Mozgawa Stella Mozgawa is an Australian drummer, best known as a member of the indie rock band Warpaint, with whom she has recorded four studio albums. Alongside her work with Warpaint, Mozgawa has contributed to recordings by musicians Kurt Vile, Ada ...

, and Sarah Jones. The album also includes a cover of

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

's song "Wages of Sin".

Critical reception

''Watch My Moves'' received generally favorable reviews from critics; review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a weighted average score of 79/100, based on 15 critic reviews. The album was noted for its generally relaxed feeling. Writing for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', Simon Vozick-Levinson described the album as a "majestically mellow zone-out session", giving the album 3.5 starts out of 5. For ''

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 th ...

'', Sam Sodomsky wrote that the album "conjures images of dreaming and traveling without worrying where they lead" and that "Vile's singing leans toward the deadpan spoken word of late-career

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

", rating the album 7.4 out of 10. Concluding the review for

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 databas ...

, Fred Thomas claimed that "The sounds will be familiar (even comforting) to longtime fans, but there are so many unpredictable turns and head-scratching moments that Vile ends up taking his music somewhere new by approaching the same kind of songwriting he's been doing since he started from unlikely angles." Writing for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Rhys Buchanan said of the album that "Vile isn't about to abandon the formula that's served him so well... It packs that wholesome, easy charm he's always held", giving the album 4 out of 5 stars. In a less positive review, Thomas Bedenbaugh of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

'' gave the album 2.5 stars out of 5, arguing that while the album was a "competently written set of Americana-inflected folk rock", it was nevertheless "disappointing to see the artist play it so safe."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians *

– vocals (1–10, 12, 13, 15), piano (tracks 1, 9, 10, 13), trumpet (1), acoustic guitar (2, 4, 9, 10, 12, 15), drum machine (2), electric guitar (2–4, 6, 9, 12, 13, 15), synth bass (3, 4, 11, 14), keyboards (5, 13),

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

(5), synthesizer programming (8, 12, 13) *

Rob Laakso Rob Laakso is an American musician, record producer and engineer, best known as the recording partner of indie rock musician Kurt Vile, and as a multi-instrumentalist in his backing band The Violators. Laakso is also a multi-instrumentalist in the ...

– bass (2–5, 7–9, 12, 13), electric guitar (9), background vocals (12), acoustic guitar (13) * Jesse Trbovich – bass (4, 6), keyboards (4), electric guitar (5, 9, 13), acoustic guitar (12, 13), harmonica (15) * Kyle Spence – drums (3–5, 9, 12, 13), percussion (4) * Matt Schuessler – bass (1),

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

(15) * James Stewart –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

(1, 4) * Sarah Jones – drums (2, 6, 8, 10, 15), percussion (2) *

– drums, percussion (7) *

Chris Cohen Christopher David Cohen (born 5 March 1987) is an English former professional footballer and is currently assistant manager at Southampton. Primarily a midfielder, he was able to operate equally in the centre or on the left, but was also emplo ...

– electric guitar (7), background vocals (15) *

– vocals, piano (7) * Craig McQuiston – bass (10) *

Julia Shapiro Julia Shapiro (born 16 December 1984) is a former pair skater who competed for Russia and Israel. Early in her career, she represented Russia with Igor Petrov, Alexei Sokolov Alexei Vladimirovich Sokolov (russian: Алексей Владими ...

– vocals, electric guitar (10) * Lydia Lund – vocals, electric guitar (10) * Annie Truscott – vocals, violin (10) *

Farmer Dave Scher A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

– keyboards (12),

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ...

(15) * Adam Langellotti – synthesizer programming (15) Technical *

Greg Calbi Gregory Calbi (born April 3, 1949) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound, New Jersey. Biography Greg Calbi was born on April 3, 1949, in Yonkers, New York, and raised in Bayside, Queens, New York. He graduated in 1966 from Bisho ...

– mastering * Steve Fallone – mastering *

– mixing (1–10, 12, 13, 15) * Ted Young – mixing (11, 14),

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

(1–5, 11, 12, 14) * Matt Schuessler – engineering (1–10, 12, 13, 15) * Adam Langellotti – engineering (1–5, 11, 12, 14) * Gabe Wax – engineering (7) * Kurt Vile – engineering (2, 3, 14) Artwork * Kurt Vile – art direction * Geoff Gans – art direction, design, back cover * Joey Lipstein – cover photo * Robert Robinson – back cover

Charts

References

{{Kurt Vile 2022 albums Kurt Vile albums Verve Forecast Records albums