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Round the Mountain

by So It Was

supported by
Drew Dingeldein
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    A real object of beauty designed by Leia Sexton with photography by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Jon P. Cherry.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Round the Mountain via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 100 

      $15 USD or more 

     

  • Cassette + Digital Album

    Another, smaller, real object of beauty, with that sweet sweet tape sound. Sprung for the highest quality audio on these, so they sound pretty damn good!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Round the Mountain via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    edition of 200 

      $10 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

1.
Speak Now! 03:46
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2.
Breewayy 02:19
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3.
Dance Now! 03:51
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4.
Swimming Hole 03:05
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5.
Fossil 01:43
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6.
For Travis Nagdy 02:18
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7.
The Line 02:57
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8.
Diving Board 03:31
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9.
Buddy 01:53
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10.
The Park 03:00
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11.
You Are Welcome 02:12
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12.
Old Fashioned 03:38
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about

So It Was’ sophomore album, Round the Mountain, is meant to be taken many ways. It is at once an imperative to chip away at inequalities, and a meditation on cycles that are bigger than us. It’s an album about finding one’s purpose and granting oneself grace, but what hits you first is that it is an album brimming with the lightness of summer, bouncing along as 12 tracks of breezy, bossa-nova tinged, indie rock.

On Round the Mountain, So It Was’ musicality deftly shifts from intricate classical guitar riffs to electric rock jams, with the throughline of idiosyncratic voicings and movements that keep the listener wondering what is around the corner. Their sound is informed by songwriter Daniel Lobb’s coming of age in Louisville, its ecology and vibrant music community, landing them somewhere between The Shins, Big Thief, and David Bowie.

Behind the shimmery chords and danceable summer anthems of Round the Mountain are lyrics that pack a reflective punch. “We were in two-week quarantines, watching 100 year floods back too soon, washing away the lowlands while the prosperous were high on top of the mountain,” singer-songwriter Daniel Lobb says. “I was dreaming that the forces of history will weather that mountain down, round it out – and wondering how I participate in that process.”

Some standout tracks include “Diving Board”, “Breewayy”, and “You Are Welcome”.

“Diving Board” serves as a thesis statement for the album, with upbeat, idiosyncratic chords, and soft-spoken delivery. Daniel’s love of water takes shape through the imagery of looking down from the diving board, with themes of patience and determination amidst an uncertain future.

“Breewayy” is So It Was’ most political work to date, and is about the struggle for justice for Breonna Taylor in Daniel’s native Louisville. The track floats along on breezy bossa-nova chords, exemplifying an effort to juxtapose serious themes and sweet melodies that draw the listener in.

In “You Are Welcome”, Daniel invites the listener to feel security amidst an unfair world. With finger-picked classical guitar and minimalist arrangement, Daniel is able to achieve a moment of direct candor, singing:“You are welcome in this world, no matter your points in the game /
The flowers are wilted, the basket is tilted, by kings who don’t even play / You know all those greedy hands will empty and fold in the grave / Ashes to ashes so follow the flashes of lightning bugs calling for rain.”

Round the Mountain was recorded in Brooklyn at Figure 8 Recordings by Nate Mendelsohn (Frankie Cosmos, Katie von Schleicher) and was mastered by Philip Shaw Bova (Andy Shauf, Feist). The artwork was created by Leia Sexton, with photography by Pulitzer Prize winner Jon P. Cherry.


Prior to Round the Mountain, So It Was released their self-titled album So It Was (2019) and appeared on the The Pine Mountain Sessions (2019) alongside Kentucky legends Joan Shelley, Jim James, Ben Sollee, Daniel Martin Moore, bell hooks, Wendell Berry and others. He is an award-winning animator, having won the Indie Shorts Awards Cannes prize for experimental animation, and the 2022 Louisville Film Society Short Film Slam for his stop-motion film, “Scavenger Hunt for People Loneliest in Their Own Homes”.

“This album is for asking the right questions without getting stuck in them,” Lobb says. “It’s for dancing in the kitchen while cooking a meal for your friends before the march. It’s a reminder to myself, and to you, to take some responsibility while also granting yourself grace and joy.”

credits

released August 18, 2023

Produced and Mixed by Nate Mendelsohn at Figure 8 Recordings, Brooklyn, NY
Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova


Art Design: Leia

 Sexton
Photography: Jon P. Cherry

Duncan Standish: Drums
Steve Becker: Bass, Piano, Guitar


Nate Mendelsohn: Piano, Clarinet, Guitar, Synth/Sequencer 


Daniel Lobb: Guitar, trumpet, clarinet, omnichord


Aaron Roche: Trombone
Mathilde Berthe: Harmonies

All songs written by Daniel Lobb
© 2023

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So It Was Louisville, Kentucky

Grown out of Lobb’s solo songwriting project, So It Was has become an agile indie-rock outfit, charming the Louisville scene and rippling out on tour and the interwebs.

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