Lee Ranaldo is no stranger to experimentation, but on his latest record, he’s taken a completely new approach. Working with Barcelona-based producer Raül Refree, the former Sonic Youth guitarist has crafted an album that leans heavily on studio techniques, electronic elements, and layered vocals. It’s a departure from his previous work, and as he tells me, it’s the most exciting creative leap he’s taken in years.
A Studio as an Instrument
Ranaldo’s last solo album, Last Night on Earth, captured the energy of a live band playing together in a room. This time, the process was entirely different.“I made the record with a relatively recent friend, Raül Fernandez, aka Raül Refree, who produced it,” he explains. “He brought in a whole new complement of sounds, textures, and a much more modern production approach—electronic beats, samples, studio-as-an-instrument techniques. It was a totally different process.”Gone were the days of rehearsing a band for months and then hitting record. Instead, Ranaldo started with bare-bones acoustic demos, slowly layering in elements over time.“It was like a layer cake,” he says. “We’d try marimbas, synthesizers, then scrap them and try something else. We spent almost a year in the studio just tinkering, trying different things, and finding the right setting for each song.”Ranaldo cites Pet Sounds, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper as inspirations—not necessarily in sound, but in approach. “That period when people were really utilizing the studio as a tool instead of just a place to capture performances… that was a big influence.”
Collaborating with Jonathan Lethem
Another major shift? The lyrics. For the first time, Ranaldo brought in an outside lyricist—acclaimed novelist Jonathan Lethem.“I wanted to challenge myself,” he says. “I’ve always been a poet, but I didn’t want everything to come from inside my own head this time. I was making the music, and Raül was transforming it into something new, so I wanted the same kind of outside perspective with the lyrics.”Ranaldo and Lethem spent months exchanging ideas, refining themes, and shaping the album’s lyrical direction.“It produced stuff I wouldn’t have come up with on my own,” he says. “It let me step outside of the usual singer-songwriter perspective.”Even the greats have turned to co-writers—Ranaldo points to Bob Dylan’s work with Jacques Levy and the Grateful Dead’s long-standing collaboration with Robert Hunter.“They had a guy in the band who wasn’t even on stage—just the lyricist,” he marvels. “That kind of dynamic was inspiring to me.”
Finding the Right Vocal Counterpart: Sharon Van Etten
Another key ingredient? Sharon Van Etten, whose harmonies appear on nearly two-thirds of the album.“I love the sound of a woman’s voice blended with a man’s,” Ranaldo says. “Raül and I were talking about it, and I just suggested Sharon. We’d never met, but I cold-called her, told her what we were working on, and she immediately said yes.”Initially, Van Etten was set to sing on just a couple of tracks. “But once she came in, we kept saying, ‘Let’s try another, let’s try another,’ and suddenly she was on six of the nine songs.”One of the album’s highlights is Last Looks, a full-fledged duet.“Raül had the idea—‘Let’s try it as a duet, trading verses,’” Ranaldo says. “At first, I wasn’t sure—I wasn’t ready to give up any lyrics—but it turned out to be such a cool idea. It adds something to the record’s atmosphere that isn’t there anywhere else.”
A Record That Clicked
Beyond the music, the album’s artwork also came together serendipitously. The cover features photography by Richard Prince, the same artist behind Sonic Youth’s Nurse album cover.“He’s an old friend from my early days in New York,” Ranaldo says. “I couldn’t be happier with the images he provided—they just fit so perfectly.” With the album set for release, Ranaldo is looking ahead to touring. “We were supposed to play in a cave in Louisville, but they shut it down before our tour,” he recalls. “But I love that town. Hopefully, we’ll get back there soon.”One thing is clear: this isn’t just another solo album—it’s a reinvention. And for a musician like Ranaldo, reinvention is what keeps things exciting.
And here's an interview with Lee and Kyle from 2010:
