Long Tall Jefferson is not one to make himself comfortable. The restless songwriter & storyteller has been permanently on tour for the last two years, has played over 200 shows across Europe and captivated his audience with ambiguous stories. He had produced his debut album I Want My Honey Back all by himself on a cassette recorder and sold his lo-fi folk as a download code on vintage postcards and vinyl. You could dismiss this man with a guitar as a nostalgic or misty-eyed loner. However, he was never interested in escapism, but rather in finding a personal and current position between the traditional and the present.
On his second album Lucky Guy he continues this search and expands the foundation of guitar & vocals with a colorful arsenal of additional instruments. Drum computers, electric guitars, clarinets, piano, bass, drums, brass, violins and percussion dress the songs in a colorfully orchestrated pop costume. The texts focus on the humane and revolve around the lostness of the individual in the turmoil of this world. Long Tall Jefferson distinguishes himself as a sensitive chronicler of everyday life, who loves playing with language. For example in the title song, when the protagonist questions the big picture "how's it even possible we're living here / on this rocky thing wrapped in an atmosphere" and defends himself against his recurring "first world problems". It is bittersweet irony that flashes up again and again between the lines and in the arrangements letting the underlying weltschmerz dissipate into thin air.
Recorded with producer Timo Keller during short tour breaks, the vastness of the world found its way into this production which lets the listener witness the thousand small steps between the first idea and the final result. Long Tall Jefferson's tireless DIY attitude is also apparent in the ambitious collective label Red Brick Chapel, which he founded in 2011 and for which he acts as the central switchboard. He has since gathered a handful of the hottest Swiss newcomer acts around him and together they provide a fresh musical wind far beyond their nation's borders.
