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Die Alone

by In the Junipers

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Max Oakland is finally releasing his first finished song in over a year. And his first studio recording ever. It’s called Die Alone, and I think you’ll be surprised in a good way by a song with a title like that

From Max:
“ I wrote Die Alone sitting on the floor of my room. It was really different from my other songs at the time, but it stuck with me. At first I recorded it with GarageBand on my computer with loud vocals and noisy guitars. My brother Alec and I recorded it later with our band The Peaches for our Flyover Country album. Later, I redid it for fun, first in Garageband with some of the backing instruments that can still be heard in the final version and then took that to my friend Jake Whitecar Orangutan Sound studio in Montana where we recorded the final vocals, instruments, and live drums. I can’t believe there was a time when we could actually travel

Jake asked Jon Filkins to provide real, live drums and Amanda Ceaser to add background vocals. He also played bass, some synths, and some guitar. The song wouldn’t be what it is without their amazing contributions and I can’t thank each of them enough for participating

The result is peppy, but also dark. It has a heavy beat and some really cool vocals. I especially love the bridge where it gets really quiet and echoey and then builds to the most intense moment of the song

I recorded this song at a really hard time when I had to go to voice therapy because I had hurt my vocal cords and I was just recovering after a year wondering if I’d ever be able to sing again. I still hadn’t fully recovered during the recording process, but the result is cool because my vocals are a lot breathier than usual. My philosophy is: turn that mud into gold if at all possible”

Die Alone. It’s about knowing that something or someone beautiful is gone, hoping they might come back someday, but not waiting around because you also have a life to live. It’s a dark song. Not exactly happy, but not unhappy either. Just fresh and raw from the pain and disappointment. The title comes from the phrase “You don’t die alone on the road”, which came from nowhere but really fits the overall energy, about moving forward despite all the uncertainty

“In my mind, it’s a lot of dark night driving images which is going to feature in the video that will be released in the weeks after the song.”

lyrics

Oh I know it’s gone forever, but I can’t help but wonder
Can’t help but wondering
Filth dissolved in rain, like the clouds crashed and we're OK

You don't die alone on the road. Too many monsters to take your soul
You don't die alone on the road. Just gonna sell everything you know

Oh I know it’s gone forever, but I can’t help but wonder
Can’t help the wondering
Salts like cyanide washing away in the tide

Keep this one in my pocket to remind me of younger days
when the smoke we saw was dragons evolving in their caves
into you and your little sister all alone now in the snow
have we become the monsters when we drive away all alone?

You don't die alone on the road

credits

released September 26, 2020
Songs by Max Oakland
Produced by Jake Whitecar and Max Oakland
Mixed by Jake Whitecar at Orangutan Sound in Missoula, MT

Performances:
Max Oakland - Vocals, Guitars, Synths, Programming, Slide, Samples
Jake Whitecar - Bass Guitar, additional guitars & synths
Jon Filkins - Live Drums
Amanda Ceaser - Background Vocals

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In the Junipers

In the Junipers is a place for beautiful things. And ugly things. And weird things. Your things. We'll be uploading projects by many of our friends and collaborators. Please check often and download what we have to show your support. It's all free. We're just glad to see people enjoy it. ... more

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