"I’m not convinced moving again / Will help me settle my mind..."
The journey-esque, filmic "Settle My Mind" by singer-songwriter / multi-instrumentalist BYLAND, and written by Alie Renee Byland and her husband and co-writer, Jake Byland, is a song, that to me, feels mysterious. It has a surreptitious arc moving from a stalking darkness but soon enough opens up to the light feeling beautifully tender and sad but like a snake in the grass there is an uneasy sense of hope and salvation coming or an oppressive thumb instead. The song like a slithering snake that may be just another part of nature or a dangerous predator that bites you and injects you with it's poison. And within or maybe against all the beauty "Settle My Mind" does grow increasingly jagged with sharp tensions seemingly running over all the bits of beauty that came before. It is floating on deep, deep waters and obviously feels like a theme to a very personal story and that is because it is part of one.
Fascinating LINER NOTES ahead (bracketed):
[“Coming from a family where blood was synonymous with ‘loyalty,’ it was so difficult to dream for myself of any life that looked different than my family's expectations of me,” says Alie, explaining that “Settle My Mind” is a very literal account of some of the ugly moments that led to the couple deciding to move to Seattle from her childhood home of New Mexico in 2022. “Listening back, I can literally watch as I walk myself to the realization that ‘I can’t make myself love this,’ no matter how badly I wanted to - and tried to. Although writing this song was me spelling out a million reasons to leave, convincing myself it’s okay to do what’s best for me, I only needed to grasp that I don’t need permission from anyone to be happy.”]
Alie Renee Byland had what can only be described as an extraordinary childhood, raised in New Mexico among a religious community led by her father.
[“My dad was a pastor growing up,” she says, “like a Jesus hippie. It was an amazing childhood, we grew up for the first ten years of my life in the mountains where my parents were building an Earthship. Then when I was 10, my parents moved us to the inner city of Albuquerque, which was literally called The War Zone. It’s actually a very diverse neighborhood, predominantly Spanish-speaking, and our church was right in the middle of all of that. We also had a community of people that lived with us, at any given point, there were 20 or 30 people living together.”]
[“I feel so conflicted about that whole part of my life. It was very beautiful in one sense, I really felt like part of a community, but there was also a lot of trauma that came from that time. I was the oldest girl in the pastor’s family, and a worship leader when I was 12, so my own sense of choice was squashed and simplified. I had the answers to any question given to me on a platter, and there was only one thing on the menu for me. I became, in many ways, a performer to avoid disappointing people.”]
[“My dad was a pastor growing up,” she says, “like a Jesus hippie. It was an amazing childhood, we grew up for the first ten years of my life in the mountains where my parents were building an Earthship. Then when I was 10, my parents moved us to the inner city of Albuquerque, which was literally called The War Zone. It’s actually a very diverse neighborhood, predominantly Spanish-speaking, and our church was right in the middle of all of that. We also had a community of people that lived with us, at any given point, there were 20 or 30 people living together.”]
[“I feel so conflicted about that whole part of my life. It was very beautiful in one sense, I really felt like part of a community, but there was also a lot of trauma that came from that time. I was the oldest girl in the pastor’s family, and a worship leader when I was 12, so my own sense of choice was squashed and simplified. I had the answers to any question given to me on a platter, and there was only one thing on the menu for me. I became, in many ways, a performer to avoid disappointing people.”]
“Settle My Mind,” is from BYLAND's sophomore album, "Heavy For A While".
[Though Alie gained invaluable experience, her artistic growth was limited by the community’s religious boundaries. In 2010, she left New Mexico for school in Seattle, where she met and married Jake, making her official recorded debut with 2018’s Desert Days. Gray followed in 2020, earning applause for its expansive pop soundscapes and landing them multiple high-profile film and TV placements via their partnership with Los Angeles-based indie label, Mother West. That same year saw the Bylands finally fulfilling Alie’s long-standing dream of returning to New Mexico. They packed up the car and left the Pacific Northwest in March 2020 – quite literally days before lockdown restrictions. Caught in place by COVID, Alie and Jake began documenting their emotions and experience in a string of contemplative new songs, written independently and then refined together, creating a seamless yin/yang between individual introspection and dynamic cooperation, each bringing their own unique voice to the process and finding inspiration in their daily lives.]
[Demos were sent to longtime producer/engineer Nathan Yaccino (Brandi Carlile, Pearl Jam, Tanya Tucker), who encouraged Byland to nurture and shape the songs into a full-fledged album. Having spent almost two years to the day in what essentially amounted to pre-production, they returned to Seattle in 2022 and quickly set to work, joined by Yaccino and an array of friends, among them guitarist Jessica Dobson (Shins, Beck, Deep Sea Diver), pedal steel guitarist and vocalist Skyler Mehal, multi-instrumentalist/percussionist Jonny Gundersen, and Lemolo’s Meagan Grandall, the latter of whom lends backing vocals to a number of tracks and shares lead vocal duties on “Postcard.” Frequent collaborator Abby Gundersen (William Fitzsimmons) once again contributed assorted strings and arrangements, her evocative motifs bringing rare resonance and additional depth to Byland’s intangible magic.]
[With its shrewd sonic template and Alie’s striking vocal performance at its center, the album expertly marries themes of intimacy and heartache, nostalgia and hopefulness, the quest for home, and the complexity of holding onto it once it is found. Heavy For A While expertly captures the emotional maelstrom of Byland’s two years in New Mexico, serving as a clear snapshot of their experience as well as a therapeutic primal scream releasing all the deep feelings and frustration felt by them both.]
LYRICS
MMMMM
MMMMM
I’m not convinced moving again
Will help me settle my mind
I didn’t notice my shadow when I wanted the sun
Warmth in my bed or in the soul of someone
My arm’s in a sling for a couple more weeks
And my favorite mug is shattered in the sink
Joel’s cigarettes blow across the yard
I’m going on a walk but I wanna run
MMMMM
MMMMM
I can’t make myself
Oh I can’t make myself
I can’t make myself love this
I have what I need
Time slows down for me
But I can’t make myself love this
Love this
MMMMM
MMMMM
I bit my nails too short again
I brought home a cat and I didn’t ask
All my mail is unopened in piles
And I’m taking long showers till the water runs out
There’s only one leaf left hanging on the tree
I’ll wait till it falls to rake up the leaves
I’m scared to leave but I’m more afraid to stay
If I stay will everything stay the same
MMMMM
MMMMM
I can’t make myself
Oh I can’t make myself
Oh I can’t make myself love this
I have what I need
Times slowed down for me
But I can’t make myself love this
Love this
MMMMM
MMMMM
MMMMM
MMMMM
Don’t Look
Don’t Speak
Don’t Look away from me
Don’t Look
Don’t Speak
Don’t Look away from me
Don’t Look
Don’t Speak
Don’t Look away from me
MMMM
MMMM
+ + +
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5zSPR2YNjfLn5rNQPZiJgC
https://soundcloud.com/bylandofficial
https://bylandmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/bylandmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/bylandmusic
https://twitter.com/bylandmusic
(New York, NY) With the release of the new single, “Settle My Mind,” cinematic indie-rock artist, Byland, announces her sophomore album, Heavy For A While. Born of a dream of home but then waylaid by disappointment, frustration, and eventual acceptance, the journey of singer-songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Alie Renee Byland and her husband and co-writer, Jake Byland, led to the extraordinary new album. Fueled by Byland’s spirited, eclectic musical approach, songs like “Settle My Mind” are widescreen expressions of longing and isolation, weaving deep-rooted melodies, candid lyrical communication, and sophisticated arrangements with whispers of nostalgia and an unstoppable sense of forward motion. The result is a singular vision both familiar and unprecedented, bittersweet yet strikingly life-affirming.
BYLAND, Seattle, singer songwriter / multi-instrumentalist, Alie Renee Byland / Jake Byland, indie rock, folk, orchestral, avant rock, "Settle My Mind" (Live Performance), new album "Heavy For A While",
[Though Alie gained invaluable experience, her artistic growth was limited by the community’s religious boundaries. In 2010, she left New Mexico for school in Seattle, where she met and married Jake, making her official recorded debut with 2018’s Desert Days. Gray followed in 2020, earning applause for its expansive pop soundscapes and landing them multiple high-profile film and TV placements via their partnership with Los Angeles-based indie label, Mother West. That same year saw the Bylands finally fulfilling Alie’s long-standing dream of returning to New Mexico. They packed up the car and left the Pacific Northwest in March 2020 – quite literally days before lockdown restrictions. Caught in place by COVID, Alie and Jake began documenting their emotions and experience in a string of contemplative new songs, written independently and then refined together, creating a seamless yin/yang between individual introspection and dynamic cooperation, each bringing their own unique voice to the process and finding inspiration in their daily lives.]
[Demos were sent to longtime producer/engineer Nathan Yaccino (Brandi Carlile, Pearl Jam, Tanya Tucker), who encouraged Byland to nurture and shape the songs into a full-fledged album. Having spent almost two years to the day in what essentially amounted to pre-production, they returned to Seattle in 2022 and quickly set to work, joined by Yaccino and an array of friends, among them guitarist Jessica Dobson (Shins, Beck, Deep Sea Diver), pedal steel guitarist and vocalist Skyler Mehal, multi-instrumentalist/percussionist Jonny Gundersen, and Lemolo’s Meagan Grandall, the latter of whom lends backing vocals to a number of tracks and shares lead vocal duties on “Postcard.” Frequent collaborator Abby Gundersen (William Fitzsimmons) once again contributed assorted strings and arrangements, her evocative motifs bringing rare resonance and additional depth to Byland’s intangible magic.]
[With its shrewd sonic template and Alie’s striking vocal performance at its center, the album expertly marries themes of intimacy and heartache, nostalgia and hopefulness, the quest for home, and the complexity of holding onto it once it is found. Heavy For A While expertly captures the emotional maelstrom of Byland’s two years in New Mexico, serving as a clear snapshot of their experience as well as a therapeutic primal scream releasing all the deep feelings and frustration felt by them both.]
Steeping in "Settle My Mind" and meditating on the lyrics (pasted below) and I am finding myself staring at the stately forests around my home and feeling the approaching winter cold in a different way. I know that there is so much context unwritten between each line and probably within the inhalation of breath between Alie’s words themselves, like each and every word. I appreciate songs that dig deep in the muck of an artist's life or past life. It is the muck that is most often the most relatable even if it might taste bitter. I love Alie's vocal expressions because like a lot of other singer-songwriter's I deeply love and admire, like Thom Yorke or Joni Mitchell or PJ Harvey or Neil Young, I feel the sense that feeling the words is paramount to singing them, that the shaping of the vocal shapes is not done by an artistic style-ification but an emotional bloodletting.
Great stuff in a sea of good stuff. I have included the studio version and a wonderful live version below.
-Robb Donker Curtius
LYRICS
MMMMM
MMMMMMMMMM
MMMMM
I’m not convinced moving again
Will help me settle my mind
I didn’t notice my shadow when I wanted the sun
Warmth in my bed or in the soul of someone
My arm’s in a sling for a couple more weeks
And my favorite mug is shattered in the sink
Joel’s cigarettes blow across the yard
I’m going on a walk but I wanna run
MMMMM
MMMMM
I can’t make myself
Oh I can’t make myself
I can’t make myself love this
I have what I need
Time slows down for me
But I can’t make myself love this
Love this
MMMMM
MMMMM
I bit my nails too short again
I brought home a cat and I didn’t ask
All my mail is unopened in piles
And I’m taking long showers till the water runs out
There’s only one leaf left hanging on the tree
I’ll wait till it falls to rake up the leaves
I’m scared to leave but I’m more afraid to stay
If I stay will everything stay the same
MMMMM
MMMMM
I can’t make myself
Oh I can’t make myself
Oh I can’t make myself love this
I have what I need
Times slowed down for me
But I can’t make myself love this
Love this
MMMMM
MMMMM
MMMMM
MMMMM
Don’t Look
Don’t Speak
Don’t Look away from me
Don’t Look
Don’t Speak
Don’t Look away from me
Don’t Look
Don’t Speak
Don’t Look away from me
MMMM
MMMM
+ + +
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5zSPR2YNjfLn5rNQPZiJgC
https://soundcloud.com/bylandofficial
https://bylandmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/bylandmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/bylandmusic
https://twitter.com/bylandmusic
(New York, NY) With the release of the new single, “Settle My Mind,” cinematic indie-rock artist, Byland, announces her sophomore album, Heavy For A While. Born of a dream of home but then waylaid by disappointment, frustration, and eventual acceptance, the journey of singer-songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Alie Renee Byland and her husband and co-writer, Jake Byland, led to the extraordinary new album. Fueled by Byland’s spirited, eclectic musical approach, songs like “Settle My Mind” are widescreen expressions of longing and isolation, weaving deep-rooted melodies, candid lyrical communication, and sophisticated arrangements with whispers of nostalgia and an unstoppable sense of forward motion. The result is a singular vision both familiar and unprecedented, bittersweet yet strikingly life-affirming.
BYLAND, Seattle, singer songwriter / multi-instrumentalist, Alie Renee Byland / Jake Byland, indie rock, folk, orchestral, avant rock, "Settle My Mind" (Live Performance), new album "Heavy For A While",
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