Anna Tivel Shares 'Invisible Man' from 'Outsiders (Live in a Living Room)'

Portland, Oregon-based artist Anna Tivel recently announced Outsiders (Live in a Living Room), which is set to release via Mama Bird Recording Co. on August 18, 2023, one year after the widely acclaimed album's original version.

The 12-track set sees Tivel in a duo arrangement with friend Jon Neufeld, both on acoustic guitar, creating intimate renditions of all eleven songs from her most celebrated record yet, as well as B-side single "American Novella." Outsiders (Live in a Living Room) can be pre-ordered now HERE.

Brooklyn Vegan premiered the "beautiful" album closer "The Bell" (Acoustic) last month with Pitchfork praising, "Tivel’s folk fingerpicking and soft, compelling voice are reminiscent of Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker, and her songwriting—full of tragic figures and folks down on their luck—brings to mind Elliott Smith."

Today, Tivel shares "Invisible Man" (Acoustic), of which she offers, "This is a song about the fragility of the mind, how we’re all just one step away from losing it, by chemistry or circumstance, and there’s empathy in that and also a great fear that makes us want so badly to turn away."

Of the forthcoming album, Tivel adds, "Here are the songs from Outsiders recorded live and unembellished by the magic veil of production and band sound. Just my good friend Jon Neufeld and I in his living room with two acoustic guitars wandering through the stories as they were first imagined. Jon plays guitar with singular feeling, seems to live inside the emotion of every line as it forms.

He’s intuitive and tender, spacious and reverent. I first heard him at Laurelthirst Pub in Portland long before I wrote songs and have been spellbound by his playing ever since. We sat facing each other in wooden chairs, closed our eyes, and just let the songs be as they are. Jon captured the recordings, then mixed and mastered them into being. For those of you drawn to things at their most unadorned, this one is for you."

Tivel recently made her NPR Tiny Desk debut where she opened with an unreleased new song called "Fluorescence In the Future" followed by Outsiders standouts "Black Umbrella," "Heroes," and "Royal Blue."

Of the "quiet and riveting performance," NPR Music states, "As always, Tivel's remarkable empathy elevates her folk-based, jazz-touched compositions from mere stories to secular prayers...Inside [the trio's] swirling arrangements, Tivel's portraits of pain and resilience become hypnotic, like dreams, like reality as we cope with it, always unfolding."

Outsiders was originally crafted with the help of producer & multi-instrumentalist Shane Leonard and engineer Brian Joseph (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens) and released in August of 2022 by Mama Bird Recording Co. Throughout her work, Tivel has emphasized storytelling and Outsiders is no exception, building on the strength of her ability to observe and reflect with clear-eyed empathy.

Inspired by authors from Steinbeck to Morrison, Didion to Dubus, she imbues her songs with attentive detail and a dreamlike quality that leaves the ordinary feeling both palpable and poetic. “Anna Tivel is one of the finest storytellers modern folk music has to offer,” praises No Depression, “with lyrics so literary that it’s tempting to think of her as a poet with an exceptional gift for playing guitar and singing.”

An NPR favorite, the 11-track set was Ann Powers' #1 Album of the Year and landed on NPR's Best Roots Music of 2022 list. NPR's Bob Boilen included the title track among his Favorite Music of 2022, and single "Black Umbrella" was one of NPR's 100 Best Songs of 2022. 

The album received additional “Best Of 2022” accolades from Aquarium Drunkard, Brooklyn Vegan, The Boot, Folk Alley, Post-Trash, Folk Radio UK, and more. Tivel has since shared studio versions of two B-side singles from the Outsiders recording sessions: "American Novella" and "The Good Fight." 

Folk Radio UK says, "Tivel’s expressive vocals are blissful as ever as she unravels her beautiful, almost prose-like verses, which once more highlight how bewitching and poetic a songwriter she truly is," and Americana UK adds, "Anna Tivel, we will never cease to tell you, is one of the finest songwriters of her generation."

Tivel recently finished tours supporting Joe Pug and Fenne Lily & Christian Lee Hutson. She is on tour now with Jeffrey Martin throughout the rest of the month. See below for full tour details.

Anna Tivel On Tour

July 18 — The Drake Hotel — Toronto, ON+
July 19 — Club Cafe — Pittsburgh, PA+
July 20 — Natalie's Grandview (Music Hall & Kitchen) — Columbus, OH+
July 22 — Space — Evanston, IL+
July 23 — High Noon Saloon — Madison, WI+
July 25 — xBk Live — Des Moines, IA+
July 26 — Trumpet Blossom Cafe — Iowa City, IA+
July 27 — Reverb Lounge — Omaha, NE+
July 29 — The Matthews Opera House & Arts Center — Spearfish, SD+
December 1 — Turf Club — St Paul, MN^
+with Jeffrey Martin
^with Joe Pug