Ian William Craig Goes the MTV Unplugged Route on New Slow Vessels EP

Ian William Craig

Actually, that’s not quite right. It’s not like Ian William Craig is strumming an acoustic around a roaring campfire on Slow Vessels. The upcoming EP—due out May 9th through FatCat’s classically inclined 130701 imprint—chips away at the frost-bitten loops and layers of last year’s Centres LP, leaving a slightly more vulnerable stunner in its wake.

“I actually recorded Slow Vessels on a week off in Gothenburg, in the midst of my EU tour last August,” explains Craig. “My friend had some decent microphones and I thought the room in the AirBNB I was staying at sounded pretty good. Also it had a piano and a guitar to boot. I was sufficiently tired by that point so I think the performances sounded nice and heavy/rough, and I’m glad that the tour energy is represented so it connects back to the record’s ‘era’.”

As for today’s #selftitledpremiere, Craig says, “I actually don’t remember writing ‘Contain’. I was listening to a lot of Phil Elverum at the time and I think I unknowingly quoted him in the lyrics. But this one is a bit vague around the edges, which I think is probably appropriate for a song trying its best not to contain things.”

Have a listen below, followed by tour dates and more details about the record. Craig also turned the tables on one of his labelmates a few months back, so if you’re as into mood-stabilizing minimalism as we are, it’s a must as well.


Ian William Craig
Slow Vessels
(130701, May 5th)

1. Arrive, Arrive
2. The Nearness
3. A Single Hope
4. Purpose (Is No Country)
5. Contain
6. Set To Lapse


Ian William Craig tour dates:
2/25 Vancouver, BC – The Toast Collective
3/4 Vancouver, BC – Red Gate Revue Stage
5/1 Krems an der Donau, Austria – Donau Festival
5/8 London, UK – Oslo