While best known for his melodic guitar strumming and knob turning, producing ways in
Death Cab for Cutie,
Chris Walla plans to go all Postal Service this winter, stepping away from the band for just enough time to release his debut solo release. Titled
Field Manual, Walla will release the record on January 29th on long-time label
Barsuk Records. And like a lot of albums these days it seems Walla isnt afraid to get a tad political (and for good reason...read on). From the official release
-
David Pitz
In addition to the expected difficulties he encountered attempting to approach his own work with the necessary detachment of a producer [difficulties which led Walla to enlist the help of Canada-based British ex-pat (and Midnight Oil / The The producer)
Warne Livesey], the project hit an unexpected snag when a data hard drive containing critical album files was confiscated by U.S.Customs. The drive was held "to be analyzed" for several weeks on its way back into the U.S. prior to final mixing of the album. (Apparently the U.S. government is unfamiliar with FTP sites, and believes that physically transporting hard drives across the border is the technique of choice for foreign individuals trying to move sensitive information into our country. Brilliant.)
Interestingly, a strong political thread runs through the record's lyrics; Walla takes more than a few shots at U.S. policy, both at home and abroad, and challenges at least one senator to find the exit door... For whatever reason, the drive has still not been returned, and so Walla is working with his original tapes and a back-up drive (during his breaks from the studio where he's currently producing a new Death Cab record tentatively slated for release in late spring or early summer of 2008) to re-apply the finishing touches on the album.
