Son Little
Musician Aaron Livingston, who goes by the moniker of Son Little, faced what many artists experience after recording their debut records: the challenge of making the follow-up. For Livingston, who was coming off the critical success of his first full-length album, 2015’s Son Little, he encountered an initial bit of writer's block when it came to start work on the next record.
“There's this moment of complete dread of looking at blank page and wondering what you have left,” Livingston, who hails from Philadelphia, says. “When you do that first record, it takes you your whole life. Suddenly you're trying to turn something around in a year, and there's a certain fear about it. Luckily there comes a point that fear turns into energy that you use to create something new.”
That creative energy could be heard on Son Little’s latest album, the appropriately-titled New Magic, a combination of the classic soul, blues, folk, and rock influences that he has become known for in the last couple of years. It comes during a busy period for Livingston, who has shared stages with Leon Bridges and Mumford and Sons; produced a Grammy-winning song for Mavis Staples; and most recently appeared on the latest album by Portugal. The Man. Livingston has also been busy touring, which he'll continue to do in 2018 that includes his upcoming appearance at New York City's Highline Ballroom, as part of Summerstage's Summer Preview '18 Showcase.
The turning point for Livingston prior to making New Magic occurred when he traveled to the remote Northern Territory in Australia in the fall of 2016. Surrounded by terrain andwildlife, he worked on music in his hotel room. “The way I look at it is, the songs that I wrote there kind of became part of this record and epitomized what I was trying to do,” he says.
In comparing New Magic—on which he performed nearly all of the instruments in addition to producing and writing the songs—to his previous debut record, Livingston says that both are similar. “But more and more, it's [about making] the best songs that I can. I think this time I wanted to boil it down to just that. And while the production eventually gets built up, I wanted to focus on the songcraft itself in the simplest way possible and then leave the production side for later.”
With its blend of uptempo numbers and ballads, accompanied by Livingston’s words of yearning and introspection, New Magic pays homage to classic old school R&B of the '60s and '70s: from the trippy and seductive “Kimberly's Mine”; to the hard-hitting “Charging Bull” (which features backing vocals by Xenia Rubinos); to the swinging and bouncy “O Me O My,” which hearkens back to Sam Cooke; and to the dramatic and Gothic-sounding “The Middle,” that recalls a tinge of “I Put a Spell on You” by Screamin' Jay Hawkins. One of the standout songs from the album is the romantic ballad “Mad About You,” which was written during Livingston’s time in Australia.
“I wrote five songs in one day there, and I think that was probably the third,” he recalls. “That laid-back, soulful vibe is something that I gravitate towards in my entire listening habits. I find myself in that arena a lot. Sometimes that stuff make it out, sometimes it doesn't. In this case, I went there in late November-December—when you go to Australia, it's the beginning of summer. It was a head trip a little bit. That song to me is sort of that feeling like it's Indian summer. There's something about it to me...it's sort of like bittersweet.”
The infectious and catchy track “Blue Magic (Waikiki)” also has that summery feeling. “I don't know what it was that brought it on...it's one of those things that I kept coming back to,” Livingston says. “I can remember clearly where I was and how I felt at that moment. It was a mood that became uptempo, and the tempo became simple chord progressions. That phrase, “I got blue magic,” just kind of changed me.”
New Magic concludes with the somber and yet moving “Demon to the Dark,” which was inspired by the early 20th century gospel artist Washington Phillips, someone whom Livingston recently discovered. “It was like a lightning bolt moment,” Livingston says upon listening to Phillips, “this sweet of tone of his voice and this very strange instrument he was playing that's part harp, part dulcimer [called the dulceola]. It had this unusual angelic tone. Initially I was struck by beauty of this sound, the simplicity of this instrument. I was trying to find a way to evoke that sound with a more modern instrument. I thought it would be cool to try and get that feeling with the Omnichord and fiddle around with the chord progression.
“As it started to come together, the idea [was] to address Washington Phillips as if he was in the room,” Livingtson continues. “He was a very religious guy. While I grew up around the church, I was probably not the most religious [guy]. I have my devilish moments (laughs). I thought it was an interesting thing to speak to him with that in mind. That's how it came together, like a plea for forgiveness.”
Asked if there was a connecting theme shared by the songs on New Magic, Livingston says that each track is in its own world, which is something that his two albums have in common. “With “Demon,” there's been lot of talk about the opioid epidemic here. That crossed my mind, the idea that people are in pain and searching for ways of easing that pain, which sometimes can be very negative... that people are often ashamed or embarrassed to talk about their pain. That became really clear to me that it's a sort of a point for which people can let go of that self-judgement, and to see things for what they are—they're just human beings trying to manage the strain or stress. That's something we could all have in common.”
That sense of social conscience also permeates Livingston's most recent project with brewery company Lagunitas, in which he recorded live performances of some of the songs off of New Magic that are now available for download; the proceeds from their sales will go to the Southern Poverty Law Center. It all started when Son Little was performing a show for Laguintas in Philadelphia sometime in 2014. “They're really invested in the music emotionally, probably more than any other business that I'm aware of,” Livingston says of the company. “They have their hearts in music and they're a great partner for a lot of musicians. Southern Poverty Law Center was something that's been a part of my family life for a long time, and especially right now. I thought it was a good way to try and at least show my support for them and what they do.”
In addition to being a versatile musician and producer in his own right, Son Little has also been a go-to collaborator in the last few years. He produced “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean” for the legendary Mavis Staples, which earned a Grammy; he also wrote the song “One Love” for her 2016 album Livin' on a High Note. Staples’ music, as well as that of her renowned family group, the Staple Singers, was an influence on him. “I grew up with that music,” Livingston says, “and it's really been influential for me musically and emotionally and spiritually at different times. She's the most gentle, generous supportive positive people you'd ever want to meet. She's full of energy. I felt fortunate to interact with her at all, let alone work on music together.”
Livingston's most recent collaboration is with Portugal. The Man on the song “Number One,” from the band’s latest album Woodstock; the track also features a sample of the late Richie Havens' performance of “Freedom” from the historic 1969 Woodstock festival. It began when John Gourley, the band's singer, heard the song “Your Love Will Blow Me Away When My Heart Aches,” from Son Little's debut record, while one day riding in a car with a friend. “My song came on, and [the friend] skipped past it initially,” says Livingston. “And John said, ‘Wait, what's that?’ I think it was the next day or a couple of days later he tweeted about it. We had a little conversation. The next thing, they went, ‘Hey man, we got this thing. We think your voice works good for us.’ They had no way of knowing that Richie Havens was a huge influence on me too, and I always loved that song. I almost thought that they were joking (laughs). ‘You want me to sing that?’ I was singing that my whole life. So it made a lot sense.”
Working those aforementioned artists from different genres (and that's in addition to having collaborated with RJD2, the Roots, and Doe Paoro) is indicative of how it's hard to pigeonhole Son Little's sound. It's certainly retro in his affinity for retro R&B but also contemporary in other aspects as well. “I think my core is rhythm and blues in the classic sense,” Livingston says. “When I look at my musical heroes like Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder or the Beatles, they're not tied to anything. They're all amazing writers and they're trying to achieving a sound. They may evoke one thing or another at a given moment, but they're just fearless in going after a sound, no matter what it reminds you of.”
Meanwhile, Son Little's 2018 will consist of more touring; he's also hoping to spend part of the new year working in the studio. Given with all what’s been happening for him in the last couple of years, Livingston is not taking all of the attention he's received for granted. “I'm certainly not indifferent to it,” he says. “It's all left a mark in a good way. I think I'm really lucky because of the diverse nature of my music and my influences, it's put me in a lot of varied places with people. I've been fortunate to be around these different vibes and different sounds. Going forward, it kind of enhances what I'm doing. It's been great.”
Son Little will perform at Summerstage's Summer Preview Showcase '18 on January 11, at the Highline Ballroom in New York City. His album New Magic is out now on ANTI- Records. For more information on Son Little, visit his website.