Beloved folk trio I’m With Her – comprised of multi-GRAMMY winners (7 wins, 31 nominations collectively) Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Sara Watkins — will return this Spring with a stunning new record entitled Wild and Clear and Blue out May 9 via
Rounder Records / Concord.
“Purity is the brilliance behind I’m With Her.” – NPR Music
“Together their sound is both ethereal and purposeful, a combination of searing musicianship and tender vocals” – The Guardian
“I’m With Her’s songs are folky on the surface and skeletal, yet intricate within. They carry tales that are both intimate and far-reaching, involving heartbreak, separation, resilience, mortality and constant, restless travels.” – The New York Times
“The trio’s vocals and instrumentals share an intimate sonic environment, closely recorded so listeners can almost feel their breath as they trade lines and blend voices.”
– The Los Angeles Times
Alongside today’s album announcement is the release of “Ancient Light,” their stunning first single and album opener of Wild and Clear and Blue. “Ancient Light” is a tender meditation on ancestral ties and cycles of life, adorned with a lavish instrumental section featuring Watkins’ artful layering of fiddle and cello. With Jarosz on lead vocals, “Ancient Light” embodies a spirit of subtle resolve as she calmly narrates the havoc around her (“While everything’s unraveling / I’m building a fire / Sparks and smoke rings / Fill up the night / When it catches / I’ll be swimming in the ancient light”).
Of the track, the band says: “We started playing around with this riff in a Silverlake bungalow in October of 2022. We were still at the beginning of writing this album, and as these images of joyful melancholy floated towards us, we found ourselves reaching for them in a free-flowing way that felt wholly new to us, yet completely natural. This song is a journey, and (producer) Josh Kaufman encouraged us to open the song up and let it breathe. ‘Ancient Light’ sets the tone for the entire album, communing with our past and future selves.”
With the song, I’m With Her shares an incredible music video, full of self-recorded behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Wild and Clear and Blue. Watch the video below.
Recorded in New York at both The Outlier Inn in the Catskills and The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, Wild and Clear and Blue was produced by Josh Kaufman—a member of Bonny Light Horseman and multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger and producer who’s worked with The National and Bob Weir— and mixed by D. James Goodwin (The New Pornographers, The Hold Steady, Josh Ritter). The result is the long-awaited sophomore album from a close-knit alliance of highly esteemed musicians, each graced with a deep understanding of folk tradition and unbridled passion for expanding its possibilities. The group’s first album led to a GRAMMY nomination, wins at the Americana Music Association Awards and International Folk Music Awards, #1 on the Billboard Folk Albums (where it remained charting for 7 months) and #1 on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums charts, and much more. Now, on their forthcoming record, I’m With Her bring their luminous harmonies to a soul-searching body of work about reaching into the past, navigating a chaotic present, and bravely moving forward into the unknown.
