Walter Martin Announces New Album; Performs New Songs on NPR's Tiny Desk
By: Caryn Robbins Dec. 01, 2017
Walter Martin (co-writer/multi-instrumentalist of The Walkmen) announced today the forthcoming release of his new album Reminisce Bar & Grill. His fourth solo record since The Walkmen announced their hiatus in 2013, Reminisce Bar & Grill is set to release in early 2018 via Ile Flottante Music. Today, NPR Music released Walter's Tiny Desk performance which features two new songs from the upcoming album: "I Went Alone On A Solo Australian Tour" and "Me & McAlevey." Watch Walter Martin Live @ NPR's Tiny Desk HERE.
Reminisce Bar & Grill is one that might throw fans of his two award winning kids' records (2014's We're All Young Together and 2017's My Kinda Music) for a loop. Listeners will still recognize the same affable narrator and quirky musical style as his previous solo work, but here the subject matter is shifted dramatically. With frankness and poignancy, Martin, now a 43-year-old married man with two young children, squarely tackles the subject of adulthood - specifically, his own.
"I think this is my mid-life crisis album," said Walter. "These days my friends and I all seem to be thinking the same dark thoughts - 'What the hell am I doing? What the hell's going on? I'm lost. I'm running out of time and I'm doing everything wrong. And I'm probably dying.' This is definitely an insane period," he continues, "but most of the time I kind of love it."
While Martin approaches these subject matters with candor and sincerity, he clearly also enjoys mining them for humor. "I wanted this album to be an entertaining discussion of marriage, fatherhood, work, fear, and weakness," he explained. "I'm definitely influenced by Woody Allen movies. No matter how serious or romantic or dark his story may be, there's always a strong undercurrent of comedy."
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