WATCH: “Down” by Emily Rodgers

The new album, I Will Be Gone, comes out tomorrow, April 16, on the revitalized Shimmy-Disc imprint

April 15, 2021April 15, 2021 Ron Hart 0 Comments 2021, Emily Rodgers, I Will Be Gone, Kramer, Shimmy Disc

In a most welcome return, New York indie rock legend Kramer relaunched his longtime underground label Shimmy-Disc in 2020.

And the second release to adorn the revitalized imprint’s famous logo is I Will Be Gone, the 5th album from Pittsburgh indie folk artist and college professor Emily Rodgers. The two have been working together since 2008 while Rodgers was still signed to Misra Records.

But for the singer, having I Will Be Gone not only produced by Kramer but released on the same label as his classic work with actress Ann Magnuson as Bongwater makes it even more special. Especially when she considers just how deeply personal these new songs are to her.

“This album is my most authentic and vulnerable to date, centering on themes of trauma, illness, and loss,” she tells Rock & Roll Globe. “While my previous records have been thematically similar, I am open on this record in a way that I have not been on previous releases, especially as I focus on my brother’s illness and subsequent death by suicide 15 years ago.”

Emily Rodgers I Will Be Gone, Shimmy-Disc 2021

Rodgers also takes great pride in the fastidious and economic way by which she and Kramer were able to complete the album.

“The record was written and recorded in my attic in just six days, utilizing lyrics I’d written over the course of the past five years, music by my partner Erik Cirelli, and arrangement and production by Kramer,” she explains. “Because the recording process was urgent and time-limited, there was simply no room for self-censorship or perfectionism and having Kramer involved in my writing process opened me up in ways I could not have predicted.”

Ahead of its release tomorrow across all digital platforms, the Rock & Roll Globe is beyond honored to premiere the video for the album’s latest single “Down”.

“Bass and piano, performed by Kramer, drive the piece, to which he also provides stirring vocal harmonies,” Rodgers says of the video. “Thematically, the song centers on the enduring appeal of intense but destructive relationships, with lines including, ‘I will bring you down,’ ‘I would have let you break me,’ and, ‘This is where I let go.’ The video for this piece, by Ryan Hover, perfectly encapsulates its mood and sensibility.”

If you are a fan of such former Shimmy-Disc superstars as Lida Husik and Damon & Naomi, make it a priority to check out I Will Be Gone.