AMERICAN GOTHIC – THE STATIC DIVE – BOB SMITH
We first heard from Stuart Pearson in 2021 upon the release of his album Mojave. That recording introduced readers of The Static Dive to a veteran recording artist with a noir vibe built on cinematic themes and folklore allegories. A New York native, for more than thirty years he has traveled and performed throughout the United States, collecting stories along the way.
In the 90s and early 2000s, Stuart Pearson toured with his alternative/Americana band Through the Woods. In recent years he has worked primarily as a solo studio artist. In 2020 Pearson introduced Stories and Songs, the first of three LPs in his Dark Americana series. This month he concludes the trilogy.
American Gothic is the brand new album from Stuart Pearson, available worldwide via all major streaming services on November 10, 2023. Continuing the gothic mythological precedent set by the first two records, the eleven-song set lives in an ethereal world in which the living and dead pass freely, and purgatory is just one wrong turn away.
From the ominous foot-stomp rhythm and apocalyptic poetry of “We Are the Falling Rain” to “One Old Coyote”, a Southwestern lament for history’s forgotten Wixarika people, Stuart Pearson tells the tales of what lurks in the shadows. Along with lyricist Hunter Lowry, he lifts the veil to a world of urban myths and mass murderers (“Cropsey”), antebellum hauntings (“Lochvinar”), and demonic surf-rock dance parties (“The Devil Whammy”).
Stuart Pearson sets the scene in a mysterious soundscape dotted with tremolo guitars, trashcan beats, and a healthy dose of organic psychedelia. We travel with the singer down a cerebral and translucent world where 60’s pop vibes (“Where Are You”) meet creepy psychedelic nursery rhymes (“The Abandoned Carousel”). Although he can certainly point to legendary artists like Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen as inspiration for his sound, Pearson has paved his own unique path through the surreal world of myth and drama in which great storytellers thrive.