The Walkmen's Walter Martin Gets Karen O, the National's Matt Berninger for Solo Debut

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Feb 10, 2014

Following news of the Walkmen's "extreme hiatus" late last year — upcoming charity show notwithstanding — band's bassist/organist Walter Martin has now let loose some details on his first solo set, We're All Young Together.

A press release explains that the album, which arrives May 13 via Family Jukebox Records, began taking shape during the recording sessions for the Walkmen's 2012 effort Heaven, which overlapped with Martin's wife's pregnancy with their first child. This led the musician to call this his "family record," inspired by classic rock 'n' roll.

"I began to imagine a record I really wanted to hear: something new and original that captured the essence of early rock 'n' roll — innocent but mischievous, romantic but funny, and unabashedly sweet," he said in a statement. "It wasn't that I wanted to write songs to suit my new situation as a parent, it was more that parenthood made relevant writing the kind of songs I've always loved most."

Down below, you can get the first taste of the set via a stream of "Sing to Me," a gently shuffled love duet between Martin and Yeah Yeah Yeahs vocalist Karen O, additionally marked with yodels, glockenspiel and more.

Martin is also assisted on the LP by O's Yeah Yeah Yeahs bandmate Nick Zinner, the National frontman Matt Berninger and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Alec Ounsworth. He also roped in a few especially familiar faces in the form of Walkmen vocalist Hamilton Leithauser and drummer Matt Barrick.

Martin's solo set is one of three Walkmen-related solo sets on the horizon, with both organist/bassist Pete Bauer's Liberation and Leithauser's as-yet untitled LP on the way sometime later in the year.

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