Former Smith Westerns frontman
Cullen Omori has announced the release of his new album titled '
The Diet'.
The follow-up to his 2016's solo debut
New Misery, was recorded with Taylor Locke, and represents a new chapter for Omori, one in which he stretches out his songwriting chops and uses his life experience to craft loose-limbed, hook-filled songs that combine pop appeal with finely sutured lyrics. It will be out on August 17 via Sub Pop. Pre-order your copy
here.
“I named the album The Diet because to go on a diet, you cut back on certain things and regulate your intake of others", explains Omori "the idea that you can do that means you must have a surplus of whatever you’re trying to limit. I was so emotionally and spiritually drained, and my only surplus was a bunch of negative feelings and a lot of self-loathing. I tried to limit and confront those feelings in ways that I felt were productive. A big part of that was suppressing the obstructive, unnecessary minutiae that comes with being, or rather trying to be, a ‘professional musician,’ and beginning to write music with no pretense again.”
Omori's new single “Happiness Reigns,” is a charming slice of powerpop with lyrics that combine fatalistic imagery and a wide-eyed apologia to a woman, is perhaps the closest Cullen gets to the classic love-song ideal on The Diet. “Reigns” was not only inspired by Omori’s current girlfriend—she was intricately involved in his vision for bringing the love song a la Beatles or Rolling Stones “into the 21st century.” “Seldom are songs actually about girls in my life, but I when I choose to write them I try to act in conspiracy with my ‘muse,’” he says. “On ‘Happiness Reigns,’ I was consciously trying to prevent the song from lyrically falling into this one-way ode to an idolized muse. Of course some of my favorite artists like T-Rex or John Cale have albums chock full of them but my intention was never to be a rock classicist or to make something that was an extension of my influences. So I had her write it with me. If I was going to write this about someone, even in vague terms, I thought it would be interesting to intertwine their perception of themselves and of our relationship.”
Find the tracklist, and music video for his new single "Happiness Reigns" (directed by Sarah Strunin) below.
Tracklist:
01. Four Years
02. Borderline Friends
03. All By Yourself
04. Happiness Reigns
05. Master Eyes
06. Quiet Girl
07. Black Rainbow
08. Natural Woman
09. Millennial Geishas
10. Last Line
11. Queen
12. A Real You
