Canadian singer-songwriter Liam Titcomb will release his new album, Cicada, next week. However, CBC Music presents the complete album a week early.
Listen to the complete album below:
PLAY"Cicada"
PLAY "Landslide"
PLAY "Richer Than We Know"
PLAY "Brick by Brick"
PLAY "Shift"
PLAY "Angeline"
PLAY "Jaded"
PLAY "Games"
PLAY "Reach Up"
We also asked Titcomb for a few thoughts on the record. Below, in his own words, he details the process behind Cicada.
"Cicada is my new record and my re-emergence into the musical world. That may sound crazy to you since I'm only 24 – soon to be 25 – but it's been a long while since I put out a record. Five years to be exact. Five years of ups and downs, living in Nashville and the U.K., growing as an artist and hopefully as [a] human being.
"After travelling to London, England, for the first time in my life in 2010, I returned with a handful of newly written songs that had something different about them. They excited me in a way I hadn't felt in years. That was really when I started to see the potential for this album. Even though I'd been writing for a couple years and had collected many songs I liked (and even recorded an entire EP that never got released), these songs had that special magic I'd been waiting for.
"Apparently, Nettwerk [Records] felt the same way. When they heard a couple of the new demos, I was offered a record deal – only two months after returning home to Toronto. Once I signed, I spent the better part of the next year writing more songs to add to this new batch of songs that was defining itself.
"The title track, 'Cicada,' arrived late in the game. I wrote it with Jay Joyce in the middle of a very hot August in Nashville. It was inspired by the fact that Nashville had just experienced one of their 15-year cicada cycles, with millions of cicadas taking over the city. The deafening sound of summer in the air. We used the cycle as a metaphor for old love rising to the surface as strong as the day it was buried. I later realized how perfect a metaphor their cycle was to my own creative cycle. How the release of 'Cicada' this year really feels like I'm coming back around.
"Jay Joyce (Wallflowers, Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris) produced the record and, between the two of us, we played every instrument. We recorded and mixed it over the span of one month in Nashville. Practically locking ourselves in the studio and keeping a wicked pace and an intense focus. I think we took a total of two days off in that entire month.
"I'm extremely proud of 'Cicada' and feel that I've really grown as an artist and a songwriter. I am thrilled to be finally sharing this project with the world, and especially with all my friends at the CBC. You have always been tremendous supporters and I will always be eternally grateful. I really sincerely hope you enjoy the record and that it speaks to you. Looking forward to seeing you all down the road."
Related:
Q&A: Wunderkind Liam Titcomb on his D'Angelo love