Will Sheff (Okkervil River) Emerges From Chaos With Grace On “In The Thick Of It”

Nothing Special Out October 7 on ATO Records

“Harnesses both the glow of poetry and the gravity of hymns.” — The New York Times

“A great place to jump into the lush and brainy folk rock he’s been perfecting for years.” — Vanity Fair

Today, Will Sheff — known for his work with his acclaimed indie rock projectOkkervil River — shares “In The Thick Of It,” the latest track from his debut solo release Nothing Special out October 7 via ATO Records. 

Says Sheff: 

““In the Thick of It” is a song about moments of grace right in the frenetic middle of things. I wrote it remotely with Will Graefe in a frantic flight out of L.A. to the desert. Zac Rae leads the charge on piano and I asked Cassandra Jenkins to sing the song along with me. I had this big music video planned, but then everybody who was supposed to make the video got COVID. So I borrowed a camera and sang the song while walking my dog Larry through some of our favorite spots in the city. We had a great time and we only spent 200 dollars.”

Watch the video for “In The Thick Of It” here. 

Produced by Sheff and recorded over three different sessions with John Congleton (St. Vincent, The War On Drugs), Matt Linesch (Edward Sharpe, Gil Landry), and Marshall Vore (Phoebe Bridgers, Conor Oberst), Nothing Specialfinds Sheff operating on an idiosyncratic yet intuitive internal logic. The album is already attracting praise, with The New York Times saying it “harnesses both the glow of poetry and the gravity of hymns” while Vanity Fair deems it “a great place to jump into the lush and brainy folk rock he’s been perfecting for years." Stereogum describes lead single “Estrangement Zone” as “an anxious parable about society’s decline that somehow manages to sound futuristic and ramshackle all at once” and Brooklyn Vegan calls the title track “a delicate, pretty, melancholic waltz."

In a new profile at Vanity Fair, Sheff delves deep into the personal circumstances that informed the creation of Nothing Special, what prompted him to put a record out under his own name, and his mental reframing of what rock and roll is. Read the Vanity Fair feature here. 

Will Sheff has also announced national headlining tour dates in support ofNothing Special, including a special Los Angeles release show on October 7 at the Masonic Lodge @ Hollywood Forever. See full dates below.

Pre-order Nothing Special here.

10/07 — Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge @ Hollywood Forever (Release Show) 

11/03 — Iowa City, IA   @ Englert Theatre

11/04 — Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center

11/05 — Chicago, IL @ Old Town School of Folk Music

11/06 — Milwaukee, WI @ Collectivo 

11/08 — Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk-Chumley Theater 

11/09 — Grand Rapids @ Pyramid Scheme 

11/10 — Toronto, ON @ Great Hall

11/11 — Ferndale, MI @ Otus Supply

11/13 — Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 

11/14 — Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle

11/15 — Washington DC @ Black Cat 

11/17 — Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live

11/18 — New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge 

11/19 — Woodstock, NY @ Colony 

11/20 — Somerville, MA @ Crystal Ballroom 

11/21 — Portland, ME   @ SPACE