The Walkmen’s Walter Martin preps new album ‘The Bear’ (stream the title track)

Former Walkmen/Jonathan Fire*Eater member Walter Martin will release a new solo album, The Bear, which will be out March 25 via Ile Flottante Music. "I don't think I've had the nerve to be this honest, this autobiographical before," says Martin. "But more than anything I've ever written, these songs explain who I am and why I make this stuff." The album features appearances by Eric D. Johnson and Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman), Minari composer Emile Mosseri, ​Harrison Whitford (Phoebe Bridgers, Matt Berninger), drummer Josh Adams (Beck, Devendra Banhart), and keyboardist/producer Sam Kassirer, who also mixed the album.

The first single from the album is its ramblin' title track. "This song was inspired by the myth of a blind bear on my road," stated Walter. "It's an autobiographical story about trying to find hope and magic in an increasingly dark world."

You can watch the lyric video for the song, along with a trailer for the album, below.

Tracklisting:
01) Hunters in the Snow
02) First Voices
03) New Green
04) Baseball Diamonds
05) The Bear
06) Hiram Hollow
07) Easter
08) Not My Mother
09) The Crow Symbolizes Love
10) The Song is Never Done

Walter Martin – vocals, guitar
Emile Mosseri – piano
Harrison Whitford – guitar
Sean O’Brien – lap steel
Josh Adams – drums (tracks 1 & 5)
Sam Kassirer – piano (track 10)
Josh Kaufman – guitar, mandolin (track 5)
Eric D. Johnson – harmony vocals (tracks 1 & 5)
Quentin Stoltzfus – harmony vocals (track 9)
Walter Martin – additional drums, bass, harmonium

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