Dan Michaelson, this time minus the Coastguards, returns with his new solo album First Light on December 8. We heard the first single ‘Old Kisses’ last month, and now bring you the premiere of the lush opening track ‘Careless’. With rich instrumentation courtesy of orchestral arranger Arnulf Lindner, the rhythms of this song constantly shift – as befits an album written about the first moments of consciousness each day – “the most unpleasant moment of any day”, as Michaelson describes it. But not everything is bleak, and the message of ‘Careless’ is hope. “It may be the first song I’ve written about true hope, and it sets the tone for the whole record…,” Michaelson said. “Optimism manifested as a hunger that’s ‘by my side like a stray in the wild’, the search eventually leading to ‘the emptiest well’ that ‘floods till its ready to spill’. We set the words in an orchestral landscape that is constantly shifting beneath the feet. Uncertain, sometimes rushing, sometimes hesitating, but always confident of reaching the end.”
First Light is out on December 8 via state51Conspiracy, and you can pre-order it here.