Recent months have seen Lissie cherish the memories of her early adventures in music by revisiting her archives. She emerged with what tmrw described as a “treasure trove of unreleased gold”, which resulted in two upcoming retrospective releases: the ‘Anniversary Edition’ of her 2010 breakthrough album ‘Catching A Tiger’, which will be released on June 25th, and the ‘Watch Over Me (Early Works 2002-2009)’ collection, which follows on July 23rd.
Lissie shares ‘I Don’t Know What I’m Doing Anymore’, the second previously unreleased recording to preview ‘Catching A Tiger (Anniversary Edition)’ after ‘It’s Not Me’. Both songs were recorded during the original ‘Catching A Tiger’ sessions in 2009 with producers Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Modest Mouse) and Bill Reynolds (Band of Horses).
Although ‘I Don’t Know What I’m Doing Anymore’ was written eight years before ‘Catching A Tiger’ was released, it possesses both the quality and the stylistic coherence to feel right at home on the ‘Anniversary Edition’. Even by this point, Lissie’s Midwestern spin on Californian folk feels fully formed, with acoustic guitar, subtle piano and uncluttered percussion supporting the unadorned beauty of her vocal. Thematically, it possesses the songwriter’s hallmark skill at translating a personal experience into a song which will speak to other people who have gone through similar moments in their life.
“I wrote ‘I Don’t Know What I’m Doing Anymore’ when I was a sophomore in college in 2002,” says Lissie. “I was home visiting my family over Christmas break and was fretting over a guy that I had been dating on and off. The fella actually went on to become a pretty famous musician years later. I had been playing the guitar and writing songs for about four years at that point in time. This was probably the first ‘good’ song I ever wrote in terms of arrangement and title. Ultimately, the song explores willingly giving your energy to something that will disappoint you, yet is so excruciatingly thrilling!”
‘I Don’t Know What I’m Doing Anymore’ and ‘It’s Not Me’ are both provided as instant downloads for fans who pre-order ‘Catching A Tiger (Anniversary Edition)’ here. ‘Watch Over Me (Early Works 2002-2009)’ is available from the same link, with ‘Hey Boy’ as an instant grat. Bundles featuring both albums on CD and/or vinyl are also on offer, and will be packaged with an exclusive signed photographic print.
Lissie adds, “Coming out of this pandemic, our souls are weary. I hope ‘Catching A Tiger’ reminds you of fun times. On the other side, ‘Watch Over Me’ is a flashback of who I was. I want to show you a chapter before everything happened. As we move forward, I cherish all of the memories more than ever.”
The award-winning and acclaimed Illinois-born and Iowa-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist Lissie unassumingly established a reputation as a global voice with the release of ‘Catching A Tiger’ in 2010. The album’s Stateside praise was replicated with acclaim in the UK from the BBC, Evening Standard, Uncut and The Independent, who described it as, “As refreshing a slice of pop as these jaded ears have heard in years.” She was nominated for Best Breakthrough Act at the Q Awards, and the album eventually sold 300,000 copies worldwide – 100,000 of which were in the UK, resulting in it being certified Gold.
After four albums, multiple EPs, and countless gigs, Lissie still derives the strongest connection from music. She manages to consistently connect, whether on tape, on-screen for David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks’ and Peter Farrelly’s ‘Loudermilk’, at rallies for Senator Bernie Sanders, or during one of her sold-out shows. And now she continues to make strides forward, telling her story like never before by going back to where it all began.
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