Actor, writer, director and singer/songwriter Josh Radnor is putting out his debut album next month. Eulogy: Volume I is slated for release on November 17, and it’s an immense collection of personal, emotional songs exploring the complex dynamics of love, death, grief and redemption. With 23 Americana tracks heading our way soon, the excitement around Radnor’s deeply anticipated pivot towards his music is exponentially rising.
“NYC” is a timeless slice of folk music that centers around Radnor’s passionate, stirring voice. “I wrote you this little ditty to sing to you in New York City,” he sings, before the instrumental cascades into a set of choir-style harmonies. It’s a fresh, poignant take on the excitement of living beyond the shadow of sorrow, in which Radnor offers glimpses of hope and beauty. There’s an entire spectrum of emotional divinity to untangle here, as the song ping pongs back and forth between anthemic and devastatingly intimate.
Radnor says of “NYC”: “‘NYC’ is a love letter to both a person and a city and how sometimes the two get inextricably bound up with each other. It was also a kind of writing exercise for me: How many rhymes could I come up with for city?’ (Extra proud of ‘admit he’ and ‘acquit me’ And I feel good about not using ‘gritty’ or ‘shitty.’) That’s Cory Quintard (one of the producers on the record) on the solo towards the end. I wrote that bit in the studio and thought it would sound better with Cory singing it. And I was right.”
Listen to “NYC” below.