Blu Miller
Bask In The Wonder
Out Nov 20 Independently
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I can’t help but wonder why we’re here / The cosmos tends to leave me feeling inferior, sings Blu Miller on the lead single of their debut album ‘Bask in the Wonder.’ The line is one of existential bewilderment at its most recognizable, and for Blu, it’s most inspiring. “Broken down on the side of the road, in the middle of an existential spiral, the most trying moments turn out to be the ones when life cracks open,” they share. “We’re usually too busy, too stressed, too preoccupied to notice wonder—until something forces us to stop. This song, and this whole record, live inside that stop.”
Miller’s musical sensibility is deeply rooted in American traditional, folk, and jazz music, and shaped by the songbook lineage of Paul Simon, James Taylor, and Townes Van Zandt. There’s an easy, open humanity to their melodies, a sound that feels less like performance than pleasant company.
Miller has performed in various iterations over the last decade, all across the US and Europe. Yet ‘Bask in the Wonder’ will be their debut under the name Blu. “I think there’s a certain maturity in knowing what to hold onto and what to let go of,” they share. Miller’s choice of moniker is an indication of such discernment; ‘Blu’ is a loving nod to his late grandparents. Jimmie and Jeane Braun were born in the 1920s in the Catholic town of Eden, Wisconsin—population: 500. “Jimmy played piano in supper clubs and, for a time during World War II, in Europe,” shares Miller. “Jeanne sang beside him. Around town, she was known as Grandma Blue.” The pair wrote songs that would long outlive them, including “The Garden of Eden,” regularly performed at the town church to this day. “I like to think the name carries a little of that memory forward, a quiet thread between what was, what remains, and what is still being written.” Miller shines that soft, warm light upon nostalgia—the humble details that give life meaning—all throughout their new album.
Co-produced by Sam Weber (Madison Cunningham, Anna Tivel, Alela Diane) and engineered by Mario Ramirez (Faye Webster, Black Pumas, Waxahatchee), ‘Bask in the Wonder’ has an organic, unhurried quality—much like the atmosphere in which it was created. Miller booked two weeks at Anjuna Recording Studio in Southeast Portland—“to see what might happen,” as they put it. They enlisted a close circle of friends and fellow musicians—including Danny Austin Manning (percussion) and Tejas Leier Heyden (electric bass, slide guitar)—to record live off the floor, free from click tracks, and any semblance of creative hierarchy. “We all passed ideas back and forth, responding to each other’s emotional instincts.” Collaboration, intuition, and inclusivity colored the album’s creation. “It felt natural, real, and flawed in the most human way possible.” The arrangements evolved from there; violin, viola, cello, saxophone, clarinet, trombone, and trumpet add texture and flourish to Miller’s spare, vivid lyricism.
Titled for a lyric in album track “Wide World,” Miller’s new album beckons wonder—evoked not by grand spectacle, but by the view from an ordinary window. I have basked in the wonder / of my window pane, thinking / My, my it's a wide wide world. They share, "In an age where people are busy and conditioned to be constantly stimulated, I long for a time when we would just get lost in our own world of thought and imagination."
“Strawberry Moon” unfolds in a dream-like state, haze dissipating around a single image held up to the light, Miller’s poetry at its finest: Pink light breaks over a million silver spoons. Elegant and uncanny, it’s the kind of song that summons memories for whomever is listening. That may be Miller’s most enchanting skill, eliciting the half-forgotten tenderness hiding inside us all. It’s just as evident on “Next to You,” a love song—to the details of intimacy more than the person involved—a long drive, a dying phone, an argument about whether two bathroom hookups count as a tradition. Miller is tactful with specificity, offering personal recollections that feel immediately familiar.
"These songs will belong to everyone," they say. "It is my hope that the music can slow you down for a moment and invite you to see the wonder that has been in front of you all along.” ‘Bask in the Wonder’ will be released November 20.
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press: maddie@luckybirdmedia.com