Tim Heidecker: Slipping Away Tour with Neil Hamburger presented by CHIRP Radio

Tim Heidecker makes music to be understood. While the multi-hyphenate comedian andsongwriter was on tour in 2022his first time performing his own material with a full band every nighthe noticed a recurring response to his lyrics among his devoted fanbase. Especially people my age, maybe a little younger, he recalls, They would come up to me and say, That is how I feel. And its nice to know you feel that way, tooWhere his celebrated work in film and television is often an act of complex, surrealistworldbuilding, the increasingly tender and expertly crafted singer-songwriter material that Heidecker releases under his own name is built to encourage these person-to-person connections. After the breakthroughs of 2020s wistfully lush Fear of Death, made in collaboration with Weyes Blood, and 2022s High School, whose multidimensional tales of nostalgia were never quite as distant as they seemed, Heidecker has reached a new peak with Slipping Away, his warmest, fullest, and most ambitious record to date.I guess you could say all my records are concept albums to some degree, Heidecker notes. This one, however, tells a story on a larger scale, offering an imagistic framework that allows for some of his brightest melodies, heaviest themes, and most direct and vulnerable lyrics. Theres a feeling of before the fall and after, he explains of the albums two-part arc. Things are going well until theyre not. I wanted to write some stories about that experience.Working with his seasoned touring band, Heidecker wrote a series of songs that tap intouniversal anxieties, familiar settings, and, occasionally, a blast of apocalyptic unease. If he were to perform them solo acoustic, they might sound like folk songs, with their instantly hummable melodies, singalong choruses, and unexpected ability to zoom out far beyond their initial premises. On Slipping Away, a father-daughter trip to a ballgame might spiral into a reflection on the random lottery of fame; a walk into town can induce a nightmarish vision of a world without people and the lifelong struggle between man and society. Even the simple act of making music, as portrayed in the cleverly constructed writers block anthem Wells Running Dry, can lead to an earnest reflection on insecurity and aging. As soon as I wrote that, I worried that its not cool to talk about, Heidecker says. But a second later, I thoughtwell thats challenging and exciting. Lets push past that.Part of the excitement comes from the electrified, lived-in sound of Heideckers band: Eliana Athayde on bass and vocals; Josh Adams on drums; Vic Berger on keys; and Connor Catfish Gallaher on guitar and pedal steel. While the songs consistently deal with crises of confidence and community, Heidecker refers to Slipping Away as a true group project, a euphoric experience that helped turn his songs into living, breathing things. My favorite records are the ones that were just recorded in a room with a band playing, he says, citing classic-rock landmarks from Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and The Band. And thats what we did.

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