California-born, Belgium-based folk musician Tucker Zimmerman released his Tony Visconti-produced debut album Ten Songs way back in 1969. The album found a fan in David Bowie, and Zimmerman has continued to create music in the decades since.
Some of that music has been performed alongside Big Thief, who are big fans of the guy — Adrianne Lenker has called him "one of the greatest songwriters of all time." Now, the band (it's not totally clear whether former bassist Max Oleartchik was involved) is serving as Zimmerman's backing band on a new album that arrives this fall.
Dance of Love was produced by Big Thief, and they play the music alongside collaborators Mat Davidson and Zach Burba. They also sing backup harmonies alongside Zimmerman's wife Marie-Claire (who graces the cover), and Lenker's voice is loud and clear on ramshackle lead single "Burial at Sea."
In a statement about the record, Zimmerman said:
After years of writing and filling a box with over 500 song sheets, I had finally found my path, my originality, my voice. It had become clear to me that songs of only one kind were worth spending time on: those which had a positive message and a peaceful vibration … Just poetry. Little hums that perhaps might lift us all above our daily worries and fears, little hums that try to make the world a better place to live in.
In the Noah Lenker-directed video for "Burial at Sea," Zimmerman and Big Thief record music and generally look pretty cheesed. Check it out below alongside the Dance of Love tracklist.
Dance of Love:
1. Old Folks from Farmersville
2. Idiot's Maze
3. Lorelei
4. The Season
5. Burial at Sea
6. They Don't Say It (But It's True)
7. Leave It on the Porch Outside
8. The Ram-a-lama-ding-dong Song
9. Don't Go Crazy (Go in Peace)
10. Nobody Knows