Vermont-based band Dwight + Nicole has just released a new album, “The Jaguar, The Raven, and The Snake Deluxe Edition,” and they sat down with @skopemag to talk about this amazing collection.
@skopemag: Tell us about your terrific new album.
Dwight Ritcher: The songs came in stages over a couple of years. We had written a lot separately and some together, and we noticed a relationship theme beginning to emerge: relationships between people, relationship with self, relationship with our pasts, and with the world. The bonus track, “Saying Goodbye,” was recorded more recently, but it fit perfectly with the others and feels like it was meant to be there.
@skopemag: How did you put this album together?
Dwight: We recorded most of this album at Studio G in Brooklyn. We had a super-inspired, six-day session there. Our happy place is being back in Brooklyn working on new music with Joel Hamilton. It’s an indescribable joy.
Nicole Nelson: Then the opportunity to finish the album in Norway presented itself. We were invited to record there as part of an arts grant from the Norwegian government in a little coastal village in Giske at a beautiful waterfront studio called Ocean Sound. It’s just a few miles from where my paternal great-grandparents were born. It was magical.
@skopemag: Let’s talk about “Saying Goodbye.”
Nicole: The song “Saying Goodbye” is about liberation from the things, people, memories, thoughts, and feelings that have had a hold on you. After a year of big changes and hard losses, we realized that what was left behind was what we really needed. We had been holding onto aspects of our past that were no longer serving us. By letting go, we found a true freedom and clarification that brought us to the next level. When in doubt, let it go.
@skopemag: What do you hope the album’s message is?
Dwight: The idea of potential. We can change and improve ourselves and our relationships. There is a lot of hope and magic and possibility out there. It is our purpose to witness it, and to share what we experience.
