Walt McClements - On a Painted Ocean - New LP Record 2025 Western Vinyl - Drone Ambient / Accordion
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A Painted Ship 04:45
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Cloud Prints 04:12
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On a Painted Ocean 05:26
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Sirens 04:59
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Washed Up 04:11
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Parade 10:19
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Clattering 04:14
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about
Stillness can imply either tranquility or stagnation. Walt McClements grappled with these opposing forces in the years it took to realize On a Painted Ocean: a suite of searching accordion and pipe organ-led pieces that travel a steady course, swelling and expanding with a tide of tender emotion. The composer and multi-instrumentalist takes the title of his second album from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s famous epic The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and its depiction of a boat that’s stalled at sea—As idle as a painted ship/Upon a painted ocean. It’s an impression that mirrors both the process and the product of McClements’s Western Vinyl release, from the gentle unfurling of a raw reed tone on opener “A Painted Ship” to the gritty ebb and flow of effects-laden drone on “Washed Up,” and the closing flutter and signal interference that noisily builds toward triumphant euphoria on “Clattering.”
On a Painted Ocean emerges at a confluence of events and inspirations that have shifted and changed like the weather itself. Its initial sketches began with unexpected access to a Pasadena church organ in 2022, before being set aside to prepare for a busy year as a member of Weyes Blood’s live band. Months on the tour bus with limited instruments led McClements to explore recreating the sound of his processed accordion on the synthesizer, layering it with the organ pieces. As that cycle came to end, McClements was eager to finish the record, but was unsure how to pick up the thread. Stuck in the doldrums of creative block, McClements took his traces of processed accordion and synthesizers, reversed pipe organ and melodica, reeds and pipes run through pedals and computers to his former home of New Orleans for Carnival.
Having lived in the Louisiana city for a decade before moving to Los Angeles, McClements found renewed inspiration from his community during one of its most ecstatic and meaningful times of year. Its ethic of art for community’s sake and practices of care inspired him to take fellow musician and mentor Rachika Nayar’s advice by including collaborators, including Nayar herself, who contributes additional production to “Sirens.” Old friend and former bandmate Aurora Nealand would also answer the call, adding dramatic saxophone to the choppy waters of “Cloud Prints” and “Parade.” The latter track stands out for its sonic and conceptual culmination of McClements’ journey toward realizing On a Painted Ocean, where a rising pitch and buffeting sails meet a field recording of community care, a training in how to use Narcan to reverse an overdose. A credit to strong relationships and mutual support, the album charts a personal pilgrimage–adapting to the tides and remembering your community can help when you feel stuck at sea.
On a Painted Ocean emerges at a confluence of events and inspirations that have shifted and changed like the weather itself. Its initial sketches began with unexpected access to a Pasadena church organ in 2022, before being set aside to prepare for a busy year as a member of Weyes Blood’s live band. Months on the tour bus with limited instruments led McClements to explore recreating the sound of his processed accordion on the synthesizer, layering it with the organ pieces. As that cycle came to end, McClements was eager to finish the record, but was unsure how to pick up the thread. Stuck in the doldrums of creative block, McClements took his traces of processed accordion and synthesizers, reversed pipe organ and melodica, reeds and pipes run through pedals and computers to his former home of New Orleans for Carnival.
Having lived in the Louisiana city for a decade before moving to Los Angeles, McClements found renewed inspiration from his community during one of its most ecstatic and meaningful times of year. Its ethic of art for community’s sake and practices of care inspired him to take fellow musician and mentor Rachika Nayar’s advice by including collaborators, including Nayar herself, who contributes additional production to “Sirens.” Old friend and former bandmate Aurora Nealand would also answer the call, adding dramatic saxophone to the choppy waters of “Cloud Prints” and “Parade.” The latter track stands out for its sonic and conceptual culmination of McClements’ journey toward realizing On a Painted Ocean, where a rising pitch and buffeting sails meet a field recording of community care, a training in how to use Narcan to reverse an overdose. A credit to strong relationships and mutual support, the album charts a personal pilgrimage–adapting to the tides and remembering your community can help when you feel stuck at sea.
credits
released April 4, 2025
Walt McClements - Accordion, Organ, Synths, Trumpet, and Production
Aurora Nealand - Saxophones on “Cloud Prints”, “Parade”, and “Clattering”
Rachika Nayar - Additional production and mixing on “Sirens”
Casey Leigh - Narcan Training on “Parade”
Mixed and Mastered by Chuck Johnson at Cirrus Oxide Studios
Recorded by Walt McClements at the Garden Apartment
Organ recorded at Mission Gathering Church in Pasadena, thanks to Gregory Michael Hernandez
Additional recording done at SONO in New Orleans, thanks to Aurora Nealand
Album Art and Cover Design by Erik Ruin
Additional Thanks to Matt Sexter, Ben Babbitt, Rachika Nayar, Brian Sampson, Mary Lattimore and Amelia Jackie
Walt McClements - Accordion, Organ, Synths, Trumpet, and Production
Aurora Nealand - Saxophones on “Cloud Prints”, “Parade”, and “Clattering”
Rachika Nayar - Additional production and mixing on “Sirens”
Casey Leigh - Narcan Training on “Parade”
Mixed and Mastered by Chuck Johnson at Cirrus Oxide Studios
Recorded by Walt McClements at the Garden Apartment
Organ recorded at Mission Gathering Church in Pasadena, thanks to Gregory Michael Hernandez
Additional recording done at SONO in New Orleans, thanks to Aurora Nealand
Album Art and Cover Design by Erik Ruin
Additional Thanks to Matt Sexter, Ben Babbitt, Rachika Nayar, Brian Sampson, Mary Lattimore and Amelia Jackie