Photo by Danny Ngan
On Talking Tracks, music journalist Dan Ray interviews indie artists as they play through their latest drops song by song. It’s a little bit like a curated Spotify playlist, except way more personal and in depth. In each episode, you’ll get to listen to the full album or EP right alongside the artist’s inspiration behind the tracks. Think Miley Cyrus’s Disney+ Backyard Sessions but with an artist you (probably) haven’t heard of (yet). Season two focuses on Seattle musicians.
Seattle singer-songwriter Natalie Paige released her sophomore album, Diary Music, on April 5, 2022. In this episode of Talking Tracks, Dan and Natalie break down the meaning behind and the making of each song on the project — 12 tracks tied together by a guttural feeling of raw emotion. For fans of Norah Jones, John Mayer, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Listen below and subscribe to the full podcast here. Scroll down to see our photo story of the live recording. This episode was recorded at The Rendezvous with sound by Sean Aragon.
Track listing:
1. Stuck Around (feat. Octavia McAloon) – 13:33.
2. Doing Alright – 26:43.
3. Caught – 38:20.
4. Quicksand – 47:42.
5. Loose Threads – 57:27.
6. Open Up – 1:09:57.
7. Most Simple Love – 1:22:23.
8. Sweet Words — 1:31:20.
9. Can’t Deny — 1:38:05.
10. Home – 1:44:40.
11. Retrospect — 1:48:49.
12. Totems — 1:52:53.
Seattle singer-songwriter Natalie Paige released her sophomore album, Diary Music, on April 5, 2022. From left: Guitarist Anthony Lee Phillips, Natalie Paige, and host Dan Ray.
Natalie was also a guest on the first season of Talking Tracks. In episode #6, she plays through her debut album, Meeting You.
Natalie produced Meeting You herself in her home studio. Diary Music was produced by Amit Amram; Natalie said she wanted a producer because she heard drums and harmonies and other sounds she wanted to support her music with but wasn't capable of producing herself. She had never worked with a producer before and didn't really know what a producer does. She said being able to explore different sounds with a professional was a big learning experience.
Meeting You is an album of love songs about Natalie's relationship with Anthony, her fiancé (at time of recording). Diary Music, as opposed to a story of one period of time, is a collection of raw, emotional songs about experiences at different times in Natalie's life. She said this album was the first time she'd written about previous experiences as opposed to what she is currently going through.
Every episode, Dan asks her guests a fun, themed question about every song. As promotion for Diary Music, on her Spotify Natalie had a playlist called Comfort Country. She described the playlist as "songs that make you feel good, images of an open road, fresh air, and nostalgia." Because of that, the theme question Dan chose is "What state are we driving through while we listen to this song?"
Natalie decided to start the album with "Stuck Around," because it was one of the songs she had the strongest vision for. She said if she wanted people to hear one song, it would be "Stuck Around." She wrote it about someone she was seeing in Rhode Island before she moved to Seattle who had asked her to write a song about them. Then, after she moved, this person kept reaching out and trying to control their relationship. Natalie said "I only got hurt because you couldn't let go," is the lyrical center of the song.
Natalie picked Rhode Island as the state to drive through for "Stuck Around" since it's about someone she knew there. She joked that since she hasn't driven through that many states she would pick Rhode Island for all the songs.
Dan said track two, "Doing Alright," is the most relatable track on Diary Music. One of the lyrics is "I want to wake up at noon / Be home by five, maybe / Back out at 10." Natalie's songs are very lyric-forward, and Dan and Natalie spend a lot of time talking about specific lyrics.
"Figured out what I need / Not what I want," is the line Natalie and Dan pulled out as the center of "Doing Alright." Natalie wrote the song when she had just gotten a job she was excited about but didn't know how else to take care of herself -- she wasn't eating well and didn't quite know what she wanted out of life. Dan saw the line as a nod to learning how to care for yourself and what your body needs as you age.
Third track "Caught" ends with the line "faith is blind / but trust is built." Natalie said the song is about a specific fight she had with someone who asked, "Don't you trust me?" She felt like that question was a guilt trip while she was trying to process through her emotions and understand the full context of the situation.
Natalie picked the vast openness of eastern Washington as the state to drive through for "Caught." Dan picked Oregon because the song reminds her of a cold breeze.
"Quicksand," track four," starts and ends with the same line. Anthony joked that it circles back on itself like getting stuck in quicksand.
Quicksand forms when a mixture of sand and water becomes suddenly agitated. When it becomes agitated, the water can't escape and the soil loses strength, which is why it can't support weight. The best way to get out of quicksand is to slowly and gently pull yourself out so as to not to further agitate the soil. You can float on it.
Quicksand forms most naturally in New Jersey, North Carolina, and Florida, but can be made anywhere. YouTuber Mark Rober has a video about how to make quicksand in a hot tub.
"Loose Threads" is Dan's favorite song on Diary Music. The song revolves around a metaphor of pulling one loose thread on a sweater and having the whole thing unravel. Natalie wrote it at the beginning of the pandemic when she felt like her whole world was inside of a pressure cooker. The song's production reflects that -- the recorded track builds to a harmonious cacophony of drums, guitar, and vocals.
"Open Up," track six, was originally titled "Window Song." The last line of the chorus is, "make me your window." Natalie said it's her favorite songs on the album, and a lot of people tell her it's their favorite song, too. She thinks it translates so well because she had such a strong vision for the production, and it worked out exactly like she planned. "Open Up" has almost 8,000 streams on Spotify, more than any other track on Diary Music.
Natalie wrote "Open Up" in Leavenworth, WA, so she chose Washington as the state to drive through. Dan chose Delaware because she said the song sounds full of sorrow but also full of hope, and that dichotomy reminded her of a tiny state with big rain drops falling.
The hook on track seven, "Most Simple Love," is, "it's better in times like these if I keep my secrets and just go to sleep." Natalie wrote the song at a time when she and Anthony knew they were going to get married eventually, but she was ready to take the plunge sooner than he was. She said she felt exposed and vulnerable after telling him she was ready.
Natalie had Anthony choose the state to drive through for "Most Simple Love." He chose Montana because he said it's a very pensive drive. Dan also chose Montana. A member of the audience, Kara, agreed with Montana because of its open space and vastly colored landscape.
"Sweet Words" is track eight on the album. One of the verses is a list: "boxes, closets, things in places, cardboard matches, open window, curtain, sunlight, breathe and I am home." Natalie has a knack for writing list verses with evocative imagery; on Meeting You track "Firefly" she also crafts a verse of list: "black holes and comets and silence and sonnets and always endless sky."
Anthony said he fought for track nine, "Can't Deny" to be on the album. Natalie said she wanted it on the album but didn't have a vision for the song, so she wasn't sure about it. She ultimately decided to keep it because Anthony advocated for it.
Natalie chose Rhode Island for the state for "Can't Deny" but changed her answer to Massachusetts for variety. Dan chose NoCal because she said she pictured wine moms drinking to the song while Natalie plays it at a winery.
Natalie wrote track 10, "Home," about a time she wanted to move to Indianapolis because it was the only place she found on Zillow with affordable homes for sale. When Anthony said he wasn't going to move to Indiana, she realized he had a point. Natalie and Anthony picked Indiana for the state to drive through. Dan picked Texas because she said "Home" sounds like a Reba McEntyre song.
"Retrospect," track 11, talks about the frustration with "learning lessons too late." Natalie and Dan both picked Colorado for the state for "Retrospect." Dan said she picked Colorado because it's sunny and crisp but also dark and haunted.
Diary Music closes out with track 12, "Totems." Natalie said the lyric "I saw myself in the mirror / I couldn't believe I knew those eyes" is the line that sums up the track, like a child not recognizing their grown-up self. Natalie picked driving through Connecticut at night, feeling cozy in the dark.
Dan closed this episode by saying how incredible it has been to watch Natalie grow as a musician between Meeting You and Diary Music. Stay tuned to see if she'll be on season three of Talking Tracks.
Photos by Danny Ngan.
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