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All these things are designed to be little worlds in themselves and read into.
Every Easter egg is probably real.
In my work, if I know something, its pretty hard to write about it.
Thats why there are so few songs about how events have turned out.
Ive got all the facts.
The same thing goes for myself.
Those are the things you write about because you want to figure it out.
My work can come off like a diary entry.
Its still all about me, but I use that as a gear.
I had that idea Stop making this hurt, say good-bye like you mean it in my head forever.
And I didnt know where it was going to go.
But then, I just started to carve it up.
Theres Daniel, my best friend.
And theres Jimmy, whos Lana (Del Ray).
So youre like, Fuck it, we have to exist and find joy.
Charlie: Your music puts me into a specific place and time each time I listen to it.
You have to have some language.
But then you shed it pretty quickly.
When I feel like something is ready or done is when I just kind of hear myself in it.
I want to hear the band.
I want it to sound like the drummer is about to fly off the cliff.
So you have all these things.
And then, youre just waiting until you hear yourself in it.
You wait until you hear that thing that scares you a little bit.
Nate Sloan: The music video is set in a New Jersey diner.
And yet you sing about breaking free of New Jersey.
Can you tell us about that relationship?
Theres love for Jersey but the need to break free.
Where is your home in this song?Its a complicated place.
The place youre from is so deeply baked into how you write and how you see the world.
And its not about nostalgia.
Its not about going back.
Its about recognizing where youre reporting from.
A perfect example of that is if you think about New York city music.
If you think about the way the Strokes sound like theyre reporting from the center of the world.
If you think about New Jersey music, its reporting from an inch outside the center of the world.
One of the opening lines of the album is, Im here, but Im not.
Jerseys a special place because people from there dont have a small-town mentality.
Its an inch from the biggest, best city in the world mentality.
And how does that feel as a kid?
That is a culture.
Charlie: You frequently cite Bruce Springsteens songwriting advice of blues in the verse, gospel in the chorus.
You got to collaborate with Bruce for this album on the song Chinatown.
How did that come together?It was very organic.
He and his wife Patti are very important people in my life.
I was over there one day, and we were playing each other music.
And I had the demo of Chinatown, and theyve got a studio, right there.
So were all in the studio.
Everyone was messing around on it.
I didnt think a ton about it until a few days later, when I was listening back.
He had sung on the chorus, and I was like,Jesus, this really works.
Charlie: The album has a live quality.
Theyre very different expressions, and they should be.
But if youre focused on that, thats the deepest version of this work.
So there was never a sense that that could go away ever.
Obviously the pandemic was incredibly emotional and tough on everyone for a lot of reasons.
So it created this sense of: I wanted the band in the room.
Charlie: One could say, Jack is a real traditionalist.
He focuses on projects.
He records organic instruments.
He makes references that are not necessarily nodding to things that are happening right now.
Im not shut off in some crazy traditional place.
Im pretty aware of everything thats going on because I think its important to be.
Theres a difference between reaction and conversation.
A few years ago, I started hearing all these electronic things everywhere, which I loved.
And then I would sit down and make music.
It wasnt like,Fuck everyone.
Its a natural thing.
You could intellectualize and talk about why, how, what youre using.
Nate: Its a fascinating insight into the gap between the creative process and then id and ego.
All these things are designed to be little worlds in themselves and read into.
Every Easter egg is probably real.
And if it isnt, then it still is because I see writing and producing as two phases.
Theres the trying-to-find-it, almost free association of production and writing.
Oh my God, this is it, these are the through lines.
This is the sound.
This is how this sound is connected to this emotion.
Blah, blah blah.
All of that happens after.
Youre just throwing stuff against the wall and youre like,Huh, thats weird.
Thats interesting.And then one day, you sort of wake up and realize youre further along than you realized.
Thats when youre like,Oh my God, were in this.
I saw it as something visual.
You cant leave it, all the pieces you choose to take are going to define your future.
Cause I was like, theres so much joy.
Theres so much joy in that concept, but theres also so much anxiety.
And thats right where I wanted to be.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
