David Duchovny

Live Nation presents: David Duchovny.

Over the past decade, David Duchovny has been steadily building a body of work as a songwriter and artist, in collaboration with a small group of musicians and devoted friends. On Prince of Pieces, his fourth album, this dedication and these long-standing relationships come together to give birth to a cohesive, collaborative, and intimate work. Duchovny's work in film, television, writing, and music reflects a broader creative impulse that has developed over time. He is the author of several books, hosts the podcast 'Fail Better' and tours worldwide, while continuing to write songs.

'Music and art can lead you to fairly interesting horizons,' says Colin Lee, one of the three musicians (alongside Mitchell Stewart and Pat McCusker) who have accompanied David Duchovny on his musical journey since his first album, Hell or Highwater, released in 2015. 'We all have a lot of fun playing together, and David's lyrics paint very evocative images.' Prince of Pieces follows Highwater, Every Third Thought (2017) and Gestureland (2021). AllMusic described his music as 'an eloquent country-folk tinged with alt-rock, in the vein of Wilco and The Wallflowers,' while the Boston Globe praised Duchovny's voice, noting that 'he sings with a husky resonance and just a hint of gravity. He’s rather sincere.'

Pieces marks both a reassuring return to form and an evolution of the band's sound. 'Catherine’s Wheel' offers a deeply rooted folk-rock atmosphere that recalls Duchovny's first album. With piano and brass, 'Born to Last' highlights a band always ready to experiment with new sonic landscapes. More upbeat, 'London' conveys an urgency, while the final track, 'Stay on the Train,' contrasts with the melancholic and bittersweet nature of much of the album with an ending that seems more hopeful. The album was mixed by the late Bob Power, producer and sound engineer known for his work with De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest.

'In general, I write songs on acoustic guitar and bring them to the band,' Duchovny explains. 'But on the last two albums, there has been a more collaborative early process where I brought them songs that were more unfinished, or songs or fragments that they had written and brought to me so I could offer them lyric ideas or simply polish the lyrics.' While it's difficult to pick his favorite tracks, all band members seem particularly attached to the title track, an ambitious opening piece whose intensity and atmosphere gradually intensify. 'I simply think this song rocks,' Duchovny says. 'It's one of the few songs where the music and the lyrics align perfectly in my view. The experimental groove that arrives at the end was in my head and Pat translated it to guitar.'

Duchovny also notes the country-rock melancholy of 'Born to Last,' noting that the final mix surprised him. 'I find it very moving, which has always been the heart of the song,' he admits, 'but sometimes, when you record and fine-tune a song, the emotion can get lost.' The band attributes the album's cohesion to a few days spent writing and recording demos at David's home in California. 'We were making an album in the Laurel Canyon spirit, in California, listening to music from that era to put us in the right frame of mind,' Stewart explains. 'That vibe really carried over into the final product. I think we have a kind of '70s rock sound, organic and rooted.'

'We were excited to reconnect, make music and tour,' explains McCusker, who notes that much of their previous album Gestureland was created in fragments during the COVID pandemic.