Touring can be a disorienting experience. Shuttling from one place to the next, day after day, can make musicians feel like perpetual guests in whatever town they’re visiting. But it rewards hearty travelers able to find beauty in constant change. Singer/songwriter Jason Bemis‘ new single "How Fast Can You Pack?" embraces this peripatetic lifestyle, finding solace in a hard-won understanding that life’s journeys can be both exhausting and illuminating at once.
In the song, Bemis walks the length of Las Vegas’ glittering downtown strip, an endless series of hotel hallways, and wanders around other architectural mysteries inside a breezy, acoustic folk tapestry. There’s a sense of fatigue here, but also of mystery of what might be found hiding around the next bend. The song gains a sharp charge from guest vocalist Heather Woods Broderick (of Efterklang, Sharon van Etten), who raises the tension just enough to leave listeners comforted, while wanting more.
The song is a preview from Bemis’ upcoming debut album Another Hotel Hallway. Stream the single below, and see him at Rockwood Music Hall, stage 3 with opener Lauren Balthrop for his album release party on September 7. – Mike Levine (@goldnuggets)