An increasing number of recording artists refuse to preview songs from an album months before it drops due to YouTube. But Rachael Yamagata isn’t one of those singer-songwriters who cares if her music is spread throughout the Internet well before the songs are officially available.
“I understand why some (recording artists) won’t play their new songs well before their album comes out,” Yamagata said while calling from her Woodstock, N.Y., home. “You can say that the songs won’t sound new by the time the album comes out but I don’t care about that since I want to play my new songs now.”
Yamagata’s fourth album, which she has almost completed, will drop at some point in 2015. Count on the cerebral songsmith to preview much of her forthcoming release Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun.
“I’m really excited about it,” Yamagata said. “I’m all about getting these songs out there.”
The fresh material is creepy and beautiful, like a David Lynch film. “It’s funny that you say David Lynch because he was an influence,” Yamagata said. “I was listening to a recording of Lynch, who was talking about creativity just before I wrote these songs. He said you have to go out to the deep sea to get the big fish and that’s what I tried to do here.”
Yamagata, 37, has hit her creative stride with her new project. It sounds like what might happen if Cat Power ever collaborated with Tom Waits. It’s a quirky, adventurous disc, which incorporates drum loops, upright bass and civil war instrumentation. Yamagata utilizes banjos and odd percussion. Metal chains, ladders and ironing boards are utilized.
“That way I ended up with this cool, angular, metallic sound,” Yamagata said. “One of the tracks has someone reading letters in French underneath what’s going on. You can sort of hear it and it’s so cool. It’s different and I just wanted to challenge myself. But that’s one of the pleasures of being an independent artist. If I was on a major label they would say, ‘what the hell do you expect me to do with this?”
The vocalist-pianist employed a different approach. “In the past I would write 200 songs and pick my favorite 12 but this time I did something else,” Yamagata revealed. “I started with 15 songs. I decided to make every song the best song I could make. I revised them considerably and it worked.”
Yamagata benefited by not working with a producer. Her forthcoming material is loose and free. “I think I found this beautiful vibe while working on this album,” Yamagata said. “There was no grand sonic plan since there was no producer. I love that this is so much different than what I’ve done in the past. I think the goal is to grow as a recording artist, not to repeat yourself.”
Yamagata, who has collaborated with such venerable recording artists as Bright Eyes, Ryan Adams and Rhett Miller, has taken chances with each album after her 2004 debut album, “Happenstance,” made some waves. She hopes to up the creative ante in the future.
“This album is just the start of it for me as far as taking chances,” Yamagata said. “I think it’s my responsibility as an artist to do my best, which means not looking at what’s trendy. I want to break new ground. I feel like I’m taking those steps with this album and that’s why I’m so excited for people to hear it. I can’t wait to play these new songs.”
RACHAEL YAMAGATA appears Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun, 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd., Uncasville. The show, which starts at 7 p.m., is free. For more information, call 888-226-7711; www.mohegansun.com.
