The majority of us, confronted with a lengthy drive, favour the straightforward, predictable things: scrolling aimlessly, playing half-hearted rounds of I Spy, or for the fantasists in our midst, staring out the window imagining the pylons are ex-boyfriends, drenched in the torrential downpour – anything to make the time pass. Not .
‘The Singer In My Band’, Nate’s third LP in three years under his solo project , was born on tarmac – highways, B roads and venue car parks all leaving their mark. It’s been billed as Amos’ first true ‘road record’, however he’s not so sure that the label fits. “I don’t know if I would call it a road record,” he says, “but most of the songs did come out of long boring drives”. Even then, the process wasn’t as romantic as it sounds: “I have a hard time actually writing – like committing to lyrics – on the road. I mostly just come up with a mental sketch and deal with it when I have time”.
Not one to grapple with a metaphor or colourful backstory, Amos puts it plainly – ‘The Singer in My Band’ “seemed like a good name for the album”. Simple perhaps, but open it up and what’s inside is anything but. Leading with ‘I Will Eat My Heart in the Morning Light’, Amos settles into contentment – a nod to his sobriety – sounding warm in the safety of his own self assurance as he croons ‘I know there must be better men but I’m not the kind to hide’. Tender tracks such as ‘Sailing (Your Baby’s Down)’ burst with googly-eyed adoration, whilst the textural layering of ‘Nitro’ says so much despite not uttering a single lyric.
After a rapid ascent on the strength of DIY charmers ‘Box for Buddy, Box for Star’ (2024) and , Amos has swerved somewhere nobody was expecting, a choice he boils down to “less words, less sounds, hopefully better production but who knows. Less me me me stuff”. ‘The Singer In My Band’ trades that restless energy for something twangier, tighter, and populated by a cast of faceless characters drifting through its tracklist.
It’s an album drenched in weather and geography, with rain that won’t quit, characters stranded between cities, and someone waiting to sail off somewhere else entirely. The surface level read is that touring seeped straight into the songwriting. Amos isn’t having it. “There’s weather at home too,” he says wryly. Ask him for his defining memory of the road and you won’t get a landscape or a lyric – you’ll get “a gas station in the desert somewhere”.
He’s just as immune to the hunch that the characters are figments of those he crossed paths with on tour, and when it comes to the story behind key track ‘Billy Came Back’, he shuts the door entirely: “pass ;)”. Whoever they’re based on, Amos is keeping schtum, letting the listeners’ theories become the songs’ second life.
Three of the people dearest to Amos appear on the record: his father, bluegrass musician Bob Amos, plays a banjo lead on the jangly melody of the titular track, while his sister Sarah Amos and his fiancée Al Nardo contribute vocals. It was recorded in the same apartment where Amos makes most of his music, with final touches added at his parents’ house in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
Speaking on the decision to bring them onto the project, Amos points out that “they all had some impact on the way I ended up making music”. His bluegrass upbringing gets a similarly deflected answer – growing up around his father’s playing made him, in his own words, “more bluegrass-y,” an influence he plays down rather than unpacks.
Leaning on the influence of – the famed Canadian singer-songwriter Amos has previously cited as a foundational touchpoint – the album reaches for a texture that’s warm, worn-in and unmistakably analogue. “I just think modern drum recordings are often boring,” he says, “and I wanted something kinda old school but not like 2010’s aggressively retro type old school – I think his drums sound good”.
He’s more forthcoming – if still economical – on the differences between his two projects. Songwriting for This Is Lorelei versus Water From Your Eyes, he says, is “drastically” different: “songs vs. puzzles”. And hearing artists like , and cover or collaborate on his songs? “Really really trippy and cool.”
On what comes after this record, there’s no hesitation: more touring, and – inevitably – another record already taking shape. “The grind never stops,” he says. “We ball forever”.
‘The Singer In My Band’ is out now.