Thile, Chris | Laysongs | 1LP

Chris Thile is an American mandolin player, born on 20 February 1981 in Oceanside, California. His maternal grandfather, Robert Shallenberg (1930 to 2005), was an avant-garde composer.

Laysongs is a vinyl LP album released on 4 June 2021 by Nonesuch. It is Thile's first truly solo album, with just his voice and mandolin on new recordings of six original songs and three covers, recorded in a converted upstate New York church during the pandemic. The centrepiece is 'Salt (in the Wounds) of the Earth', a piece in three parts inspired by C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters.

Track List

Side A

1. Laysong
2. Ecclesiastes
3. God Is Alive Magic Is Afoot
4. Salt (In The Wounds) Of The Earth, Pt. 1
5. Salt (In The Wounds) Of The Earth, Pt. 2

Side B

1. Salt (In The Wounds) Of The Earth, Pt. 3
2. Sonata For Solo Violin, Sz. 117: Iv. Presto
3. Dionysus
4. Won't You Come And Sing For Me