Exclusive First Listen: Whitney Walker’s A Dog Staring Into a Mirror on the Floor
Photo by Sparxsea
Whitney Walker, a singer/songwriter out of Portland, Maine, knows a thing or two about darkness—and hopes that singing about his own can offer a bit of light. His new album, A Dog Staring Into a Mirror on the Floor, reflects that in its name.
“When a dog stares into a mirror on the floor, the dog sees an infinite reflection, slowly driving them insane,” Walker says via email. “I believe humans are similar. I think about this Nietzche quote a lot, ‘Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.’ When we stare into the abyss long enough, the results are similar to the dog. Nietzche aside, this album deals with love, loss, redemption, hope for the future, and how difficult these processes can be, maddening even.”
Having played in bands since he was a teenager in the ’90s—first in Boston and then Oregon, Chicago, North Carolina and eventually Maine—he became homeless off and on in the 2000s, after drugs got the better of him. The new album captures some of his past woes in tracks like “Reverse Cowboy,” about a fellow transient man in Portland.
“These songs are all like children to me,” he says. “They’ve been with me for a while. I watched them grow. I’m proud of all them, but lyrics like, ‘Nobody would accuse me of being perfect / Except God, of course,’ from ‘Love Keeps no Record of Wrongs,’ and ‘Did I catch you on the defensive / By the freedom in my speech’ are probably two of my most honest lines. I’m sure my wife would attest to this.”
Walker has been sober since 2011, becoming a social worker and helping others find treatment and rehabilitation. He befriended fellow Portland musician Will Bradford of SeepeopleS, who produced the new album. He’s joined by longtime bandmates—Dan Capaldi, Robert Mitchell, Ian Riley, Jason Grosso, Arthur C. Lee and Brooke Binion—along with Dana Colley of Morphine, who added sax and bass clarinet.