Maine-based songwriter Nat Baldwin offers a mesmerizing cover of Sibylle Baier’s heartbreaking classic, “I Lost Something In The Hills.”
Veteran musician Nat Baldwin will be releasing his first new batch of songs in eight years with Common Currents. A former member of indie stalwarts Dirty Projectors, Baldwin began working on this project in the early months of 2020, continuing on the path set by his instrumental AUTONOMIA series. The EP is soaked in the themes of 2020’s social upheaval with songs that take inspiration from the Paris Commune to IWW activist and poet, T-Bone Slim. Recorded in three August afternoons in the Apohadian Theater in Portland, Maine, the project marks a return to Baldwin’s signature sound featuring his harmonious tenor and brilliant bass ruminations.
On the EP’s final track, Baldwin levels listeners with a cover of overlooked German songstress Sibylle Baier’s scarred track, “I Lost Something In The Hills.” The cover is a departure from the grand societal concepts on the rest of the EP, Baldwin being left isolated with a solitary bass echoing under his soothing yet broken delivery. “But how could I hop from top to foot, I lost something in the hills,” Baldwin swoons as a solemn bass loop echoes as the track reaches it’s emotive climax.
“I still find myself totally blown away and transported whenever I listen to Colour Green, Sibylle Baier’s sole album of songcraft, a moody masterpiece that in my view has no parallel in the folk tradition. I’ve always wanted to cover “I Lost Something In the Hills”, my favorite track from the album on most days, as I imagined it’s dark tone translating nicely to the deep sounds of the bass,” writes Baldwin in a press release. “All music making engages with the past in some way, a conversation through time and space, but the intentional choice to cover previously existing material requires a direct, intimate engagement, which is exactly why it can be a challenge to successfully pull off. Ultimately, I hope to have created something that stands on its own and interacts with the other material on the album in interesting ways. I had a blast trying to strike that balance between making something unique and personal while honoring the essence of such a monumental work.”
Common Currents is out July 9th on Dear Life Records.