Singer, songwriter and renowned composer Saunder Jurriaans (The OA, Ozark, The Outsider, The Rental and more) is excited to announce their forthcoming solo debut album titled Beasts (pre-order/pre-add). Out on Friday, September 18 via Decca Records, Beasts finds Jurriaans stepping into uncharted territory where he has delivered one of the most vulnerable, musically inventive and cinematic indie-folk records you’re likely to hear in 2020.
Shot in Springs, NY by Brady Corbet (Vox Lux, The Childhood Of A Leader) and featuring award-winning choreographer Celia Rowlson-Hall (Alicia Keys, MGMT, Chromeo, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour and more), the breathtaking music video for the album’s new single, “Easy Now,” spotlights Rowlson-Hall’s stunning piece shot at 60 mph on the back of a truck just down the road from Jackson Pollock’s house where he passed away in a 1956 car crash.
“’Easy Now’ was originally written as sort of an anthem to get myself out of a dark place,” Jurriaans says. “Now it seems like it could speak to everything going on around us in the world. It’s about stepping back from the whirlwind of uncertainty and darkness, taking a pause – and a breath – and seeing it for what it really is.”
Watch the music video for “Easy Now” on YouTube HERE
It’s likely you have already heard some of Saunder Jurriaans‘ music. Over the past decade, not only has he released acclaimed records with his groups Tarantula, Tarantula A.D. and Priestbird, but he has also been one-half of an award-winning duo with Danny Bensi creating soundtracks. Together they have created music for over 100 film and TV series, including Ozark, The OA, American Gods, Barry, Chef’s Table and Boy Erased as well as acclaimed arthouse films such as Martha Marcy May Marlene, Enemy, The One I Love, The Fits and the new HBO series The Outsider. The duo has just been nominated for this year’s Emmy Awards for their work on the music for Ozark, Season Three.
Even while Hollywood was keeping him busy, Jurriaans never lost his love for straightforward songwriting. “As soon as we started scoring, I started accumulating songs,” he says. “With my creative life consumed by writing film scores, I found catharsis in writing songs – music that wasn’t necessarily dictated by someone else’s story or structure. It was something I needed, and still need.”
Exploring deeply personal themes throughout, the songs featured on his upcoming debut showcase, Beasts, were written after a difficult number of years dealing with depression. Written when he was coming out of that period, the songs deal with how this darker side of him has remained with him and how he reconciles living with that person.
Standout track, “Easy Now,” is one of the most personal songs on an album already filled with soul-searching. The song was first written and performed live during a four-month period when Jurriaans and his Argentinian wife were living in Buenos Aires. “That song very much dealt with our relationship at that time, which was on the rocks for a few years,” he says. “My wife and I would sing it onstage together. It’s a song about us, but has since evolved to be about much more.”
With Beasts, Jurriaans has succeeded in crafting a singular, personal record that is wholly his own, which makes the album title an apt one. “When I started to think about what to name the record, ‘Beasts’ worked so well,” he says. “These songs are creatures that came out of my imagination after lurking in my life for so many years. They’re elusive and fantastical, and in some ways terrifying. Putting out music this intimate is scary. It’s a beast. The whole album is a beast and each song is a beast.”
