Blake Mills – Heigh Ho (2014)

Blake Mills’ name has been appearing a lot more often in the world of music and social media lately, owing largely to the release of his sophomore record, Heigh Ho, on September 16, 2014. Some big-name musicians and critics have taken notice of his efforts, which extend far beyond singer-songwriter. In fact, Mills the singer-songwriter only came after Mills the Venice beach Cobain-enthusiast, Mills the Simon Dawes guitarist, Mills the tour guitarist for several well-known artists (including Julian Casablancas, Band of Horses, and Cass McCombs), and Mills the session musician collaborating with artists from all over the sonic spectrum: The Avett Brothers, Norah Jones, Weezer, Lana Del Rey, Conor Oberst, Pink, The Dixie Chicks, and Kid Rock.

Finally enters Blake Mills, the singer-songwriter, with his debut record, Break Mirrors (2010). Break Mirrors was primarily Mills’ effort to acquire session work, but although it was not released to the general internet-using public right away, it didn’t take long for him to accrue a devoted community of fans. Break Mirrors was a very intimate and personal record, but Mills had much broader and ambitious goals for Heigh Ho. The new direction taken on this record is a transparent revelation of sincerity, performance techniques, and experimental sonic combinations.

That Mills has previously worked his way into the behind-the-scenes producer/musician network of the American music industry had no small impact on his ability to achieve these goals. Mills called on some of his personal favorites to help record and produce Heigh Ho: Don Was and Mike Elizondo (bass), Rob Moose (strings), Jim Keltner (drums), and Jon Brion and Benmont Tench (keyboards). Collaborating with such experienced and talented personalities, Mills embraced a myriad of his influences and organically channeled them take by take into something completely new. Mills described this process, reflecting that “Sometimes the most beautiful brush strokes are made with thoughtless effort, without premeditation or the pressure to make it work” (Fader).

Mills’ use of the guitar on Heigh Ho is truly a tour-de-force without the glaring swagger and tired gimmicks of the average rockstar. Almost every track has a guitar effect or technique you either haven’t heard before or you haven’t heard done so well before. Whether fingering, picking, sliding, riffing, shredding, tickling, or bending, Mills’ playing tastefully underscores what is clearly his highest form of songwriting to date. From the timeless sing-along-style “Don’t Tell Our Friends About Me,” featuring a layer of vocals contributed by friend and long-time collaborator Fiona Apple, and the avant-garde instrumental jam “Shed Your Head,” to the surf rock vibes of “Gold Coast Sinkin’,” and the tropical folk ballad “Three Weeks in Havana,” Mills’ new songwriting form is characterized by inventive passing chords, unpredictable metric placement of harmonic changes and lyrics, and a strikingly honest and poetic vignette of his acquaintance with love and loss.

What is most impressive about Blake Mills’ new record, however, is its performative ability to vividly express a place or experience. Each song is an intricately layered work of art that transports the listener from his or her chair. It could be to the bygone era of sparse jazz guitar musings, as heard in the instrumental palate cleanser, “Silence is Sincerity,” it could be to the moment you wake up from a dream wishing it were reality, as heard in the seductively creamy slow jam, “Just Out Of View,” or it could just be to the studio of a scintillating jam session, as heard in “Shed Your Head.” Mills described it to Premier Guitar, saying “It’s like the depth of field in an impressionist painting that’s meant to look realistic. There’s a parallel for that in recording, and it’s about making a sonic experience that will transport the listener into the room, with what’s going on, and into a different environment.” This ability to remove an audience from their immediate environment is something thousands of artists have only dreamed of achieving, and Mills made it happen all by his 28th birthday.

Blake Mills turned 28 about a week before I saw him perform in Evanston, IL with a friend of mine. His touring band had some overlap with the session musicians heard on Heigh Ho; Rob Moose played violin, and Fiona Apple made a guest appearance on Mills’ performances of break-up ballad “Don’t Tell Our Friends About Me,” and the lovers’ duet “Seven.” The latter was the most interesting piece on the program due to the reimagining of the rhythm section—all but dormant on the record, yet active and syncopated on the stage. Increasing the energy was the almost competitive vocals belted from Fiona and Blake; at one point, Fiona got on her knees on her stool next to Blake, as if she were singing at him rather than with him. After the show, when we were lucky enough to bump into them outside the venue, Fiona smirked at Blake, telling us, “Yeah, he keeps me on my toes with that one.” Blake, shy though his personality may be, was filled with the energy of a stellar performance to an enthusiastic Evanston crowd. He thanked us for coming and told us that the show had gone very well by his standards.

The future of art music rests comfortably in a ship captained by Blake Mills, whom guitar icon Eric Clapton referred to as “last guitarist I heard that I thought was phenomenal” (Rolling Stone). Bassist Don Was, present on most of the Heigh Ho, described him as “one of those rare musicians who come along once in a generation” and Fiona Apple called him “two of my favorite singers, because there’s his voice through his body, and there’s his voice through his guitar’s body” (The New York Times). The genres most clearly shown as influences of his music so far are roots rock, Americana, Latin, folk, surf rock, and jazz, but there are clear promises of new directions that Mills may choose to pursue on future records. The new interests taken by the rising guitar virtuoso are more concerned with exploring sonic possibilities than writing permutations of the same genre. Blake Mills is the number one artist to listen to currently, and if he hasn’t come across your desk yet, he will.

Key Tracks: “Just Out Of View,” “Shed Your Head,” and “Don’t Tell Our Friends About Me”