Noise married with song.
Mixed by Til Willis
Mastered by John Hruska
Artwork by Til Willis
Til Willis- Vocals/Guitars/Percussion
Selvedge (Chance Dibben)- Synth/Processing/Electronic Contortions
Released October 30, 2020
Small Guarantees is the result of a collaboration between singer, songwriter, and musician Til Willis and experimental music-maker Selvedge. Though coming from different musical backgrounds and styles, Willis and Selvedge find common ground in the noisy melancholy of our era.
Refracted through Selvedge’s elongated noise tracks, Willis’s voice provides direction, witness, and even hope. Created during the darkness of 2020, Small Guarantees reflects our need for meaning in anxious times.
From Selvedge / Chance Dibben
“As the first crest of the pandemic hit, I began to make long, noisy electronic tracks, that I later processed to sound like a guitar. I was seeking to reflect (and escape from) the relentless dread, the sense of time lost, the uncertainty of it all.
Til passed along guitar lines he thought I might have use for, and not sure what do with the growing batch of tracks I was collecting, I sent him mine. I was absolutely gobsmacked by what I heard once he’d worked with them. Til had taken cues from track titles (often borrowed from a poem open at the moment of naming) and developed full-bodied songs. All credit to Til for his vivid, moving songcraft and impeccable (actual) guitar work on these tracks.”
From Til Willis
“Collaborations draw out different skillsets and colors in what each other does, so I’m usually pretty interested in getting together with someone. Especially, when what they’re doing is removed from what I’d typically do. With the Selvedge tracks Chance sent, I found myself using a bit of a Bowie influence when picking out melodies and chord structures. I also began to think of the sonic landscape as one where a space western could take place, and set that against lyrics I would base off of the titles Chance sent me.”
Refracted through Selvedge’s elongated noise tracks, Willis’s voice provides direction, witness, and even hope. Created during the darkness of 2020, Small Guarantees reflects our need for meaning in anxious times.
From Selvedge / Chance Dibben
“As the first crest of the pandemic hit, I began to make long, noisy electronic tracks, that I later processed to sound like a guitar. I was seeking to reflect (and escape from) the relentless dread, the sense of time lost, the uncertainty of it all.
Til passed along guitar lines he thought I might have use for, and not sure what do with the growing batch of tracks I was collecting, I sent him mine. I was absolutely gobsmacked by what I heard once he’d worked with them. Til had taken cues from track titles (often borrowed from a poem open at the moment of naming) and developed full-bodied songs. All credit to Til for his vivid, moving songcraft and impeccable (actual) guitar work on these tracks.”
From Til Willis
“Collaborations draw out different skillsets and colors in what each other does, so I’m usually pretty interested in getting together with someone. Especially, when what they’re doing is removed from what I’d typically do. With the Selvedge tracks Chance sent, I found myself using a bit of a Bowie influence when picking out melodies and chord structures. I also began to think of the sonic landscape as one where a space western could take place, and set that against lyrics I would base off of the titles Chance sent me.”