The album includes singles ‘Only Mystery’, ‘For’, ‘Hunger’, and ‘Looking For The Right Things’, all of which come with beautifully thought out cinematic videos.

Meet Me at the Gloaming is certainly an album that pierces grief head-on but it’s not without hope or certainty. Like curtains strong enough to block the view, but thin enough to let in the light, Gerber is reclaiming the meaning of goodness, where the harsh overwhelming brightness is dimmed to a beautiful, iridescent blue. During the gloaming we are between two spaces, two worlds, two selves and it’s here that we can fully embrace everything that we are.

We had a chat with Gerber all about the making of the record, her experiences in the music industry, upcoming shows and more. Read the Q&A below.

Hi! How are you? What does a typical day look like for you right now?

“My days are a bit all over the place! I work quite a few different jobs on top of music, so every day is a bit different and always very busy. No matter what though my mornings always start with walking my dog and drinking coffee on my porch while I journal or read.”

You’ve just released your new album Meet Me at the Gloaming. What can you tell us about the LP? Where/what/who did you draw inspiration from around the time of writing it and what do you hope listeners take away from it?

“I don’t really know I’m writing a record until it’s happened, but the songs are always a snapshot of a time and what I’m thinking about or working through then. Most of these songs were written during a time in which I was reflecting on my childhood and allowing myself to grieve certain experiences I never fully allowed myself to. I felt confronted with the ways in which I’ve tried to oversimplify my own narrative for myself, and what a disservice that is. I was interested in learning to sit with complexity — that no experience is either all good or all bad, that no person is all right or all wrong. The music came out of that place and I hope in listening to it, people feel invited to consider those themes in their own livees.”

What was the creative process for MMATG like? We understand you worked with Madeline Kenney again. Did you do anything differently this time around? What did you love most about it? Were there any challenges?

“My first record was recorded over three years at a ton of different studios and felt like such a never-ending process. I was determined to work in a more focused way for my second record when the time came. But then the pandemic hit and it didn’t seem possible to do it as I’d imagined. There was no safe or affordable way to get a bunch of collaborators in a room together for a couple weeks. At the same time, I was writing a bunch of really different music, music I wasn’t sure was any good. Writing felt challenging and slow. But in late 2020 I had amassed so many songs and started feeling scared that I was going to wait until who knows when the pandemic would end to record and by that time all of the love I had for some of the songs (especially ones that had been written pre-pandemic) would be gone. Around that time, Madeline had finished putting together a home studio and offered that I could come down any time to record some demos. She said it could be casual and fun, just an exercise to play music with people again after so much time away. I went down with that attitude and left with the essential tracks for all of these songs that I suddenly realized could be a record. And then I finished them up working from home and having other friends record remotely.”

What has your experience in the music industry been like? Do you have any words of wisdom to pass on to artists just starting out?

“Oh what a tricky question. I’ll say that this is a tough industry, and the huge imbalance of resources and the many injustices that permeate the industry can make it feel really extractive. So at the end of the day, it feels the best when I feel in it for the love. And it’s very easy for that love to get tainted if you follow the wrong things. My favorite memories aren’t the biggest or most prestigious shows I’ve played. It’s the ones where I got to play music I really loved with people I really loved. It always comes down to that.”

Finally, what else is next for you? We see you have a few dates coming up over here in the UK in November. What do you love about the UK and what can we expect from an A.O. Gerber live performance?

“I haven’t spent a ton of time in the UK, but the time I have spent has been really welcoming. The UK shows will be solo, so really personal and intimate. I’m excited to play these songs close to how they were written.”

The post Getting To Know: A.O. Gerber appeared first on She Makes Music.

Speaking on the new single, A.O. Gerber says, “I wrote this song about trying to get to know my father in the waning years of his life and grappling with how hard that is — the desire for closeness at odds with the reality of our history. He’s an incredible saxophone player — I grew up eavesdropping on him playing in our living room. Even though we never really connected around music, I have to imagine that had a huge influence on my desire to be a musician. I knew I wanted to have saxophone on this song as a sort of homage to him. Sam Gendel’s eerie and subtly-omnipresent playing is one of my favorite parts of the track.”

The post A.O. Gerber shares tender new single ‘Only Mystery’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

Speaking on the track A.O. Gerber says: “I wrote this song about watching a friend go through a really difficult time and the shame of feeling like I didn’t know how to be there for them because I was too messed up myself. Intimacy in friendship can be so challenging. It’s a kind of vulnerability and closeness that I’m only just starting to feel safe practicing and I don’t always feel like I’m doing a good job.

“I re-recorded the vocals for this song three or four times. There was a rawness in the scratch vocals that I really wanted to capture in a better recording, but the more I tried to do that the harder it became. The final take I ended up using was one I recorded myself, crouched inside a closet at night in a cabin at a writing residency in Washington last summer.”

The post A.O. Gerber shares stunning new single ‘For’ appeared first on She Makes Music.

Speaking on the track Gerber says: “This song sort of wrote itself in the midst of a really devastating fire season in LA. I’d been thinking a lot about the opposing forces of desire and negation, all the different ways we both consume and restrict as individuals and as a culture. I’ve spent so much of my life vacillating between these polarities, making myself small physically and spiritually. I haven’t always had the ability to critique that impulse in myself but it felt good to do that here.”

Commenting on the video she adds: “This song is lyrically heavy, so I knew I wanted the video to poke a bit of fun at itself. All I told Vivian (the director, who — let it be known — graduated high school less than a month after we filmed) was that I wanted cake to be shoved in my face at some point. From that she came up with this absurdly stunning set design and concept. Everyone on the crew put so much heart into it. I’ve never laughed so much on set.”

Director Vivian Wolfson adds: “After listening to Hunger on repeat for a few days, I found that what really resonated with me about the song was its movement from passive to active; I really wanted to play with that idea in the video by having mysterious gloved hands interact with her throughout (I also just love a good colorful accessory). The dining room and portrait set-ups allowed me to work with the feeling of being acted upon (ie. being fed and painted), but also gave me the chance to experiment with production design – the portrait scene was a mini studio we set up in my family’s living room. Our shoot day was electric and exciting overall, full of laughter at the absurdity of some of my directorial ideas which I feel very lucky that Olivia trusted me enough to go along with. I never cease to be inspired by my friends and collaborators who can truly make anything happen.”

Meet Me At The Gloaming:

1. Disciple Song
2. Walk In The Dark
3. Looking For The Right Things
4. You Got It Right
5. Mount Washington Phone Company
6. Hunger
7. For
8. Just As A Child
9. Noon Of Love
10. PFS
11. What Are You Reading?
12. Only Mystery

The post A.O. Gerber shares new single ‘Hunger’; announces new album Meet Me At The Gloaming appeared first on She Makes Music.

Speaking on the track, she says: “I wrote this song in 2017 in a moment of exasperation, when my desire to show up as my honest self and let someone else show up as theirs felt impossibly difficult. That refrain, “Looking for the right things,” was a sort of anxious plea — this looping frustration over the distance between intention and reality, the desire for closeness and the complexity of actually allowing it. We tried to record this song for my first record and we couldn’t get the production right (irony!). As the years went on, I tried again and again to re-work it, and the repetition of that refrain started taking on new meaning. There’s anxiety in it, yes, but there’s also gentleness, self-nurturance, and even some hope — this feeling that it’s worth it to stay open, stay tender, stay messy.”

‘Looking for the Right Things’ beautifully highlights Gerber’s impeccable songcraft and ear for lush arrangements, which only intensifies under the electro-pop blanket production of bright percussion and sharp, vivid keys.

The post A.O. Gerber shares new single ‘Looking for the Right Things’ appeared first on She Makes Music.