Description
The songs on the album were recorded in 2014 at Stevens' office in Dumbo, Brooklyn, and Pat Dillett's studio in Midtown Manhattan. Additional recordings took place in Oregon at Flora Recording & Playback and on an iPhone in a Klamath Falls hotel room, as well as in Oklahoma at Blackwatch Studios and in Wisconsin at April Base Studios. The songs were inspired by the 2012 death of his mother, Carrie, and the family trips to Oregon during Stevens' childhood. His mother, who struggled with depression, schizophrenia, and substance abuse, abandoned him when he was one year old. According to Stevens, recording the album helped him come to terms with her death and provided closure. The album title also references his stepfather, Lowell, who co-founded Stevens' record company, Asthmatic Kitty.
The album was produced by Thomas Bartlett, known as Doveman, who had recently lost a brother to cancer. Stevens noted that Bartlett "took all these sketches and made sense of it all. He called me out on my bullshit. He said: 'These are your songs. This is your record.' He was ruthless."
Chansons