Woke Up, Got Out Of Bed, Had A Playlist In My Head

Inspired by the solo debut by Charlie Hall, Invisible Ink.

The other night here in Philly, my pal Charlie Hall, who some of you might know as the drummer in The War On Drugs, celebrated the release of his solo debut album, Invisible Ink.

Friends and family gathered at Philly’s bright new jazz spot, Solar Myth (formerly Boot & Saddle) for a hang. The last time I was at a record release party this fun, this cool, was many years ago at a Dead Milkmen release party at a bowling alley in South Jersey, where Rodney stuffed bowling ball finger holes with crudite vegetables, rolling them down the lanes bathed in blue cheese dressing.

Needless to say, Charlie’s release party had a different vibe. As Charlie’s new age/jazzy/cosmic/ambient whatever genre you want to call it record played throughout the house speakers, a dazzling disco ball radiated a spectrum of warm hues in the main room, and family, friends, and music industry pals from over the years gathered together to mark his accomplishment. A mutual friend of ours - Greg - said it was like Charlie’s Bar Mitzvah party. We were all there for Charlie.

Apple Music has Charlie’s debut listed as “new age.” It sort of is, but sort of isn’t. It could be categorized under “smooth yacht rock,” if that was a recognized category in the biz, as opposed to a fan coined term. Produced with Quinn Lamont Luke, the all instrumental record is ambient in its deep committment to atmospherics. It shape shifts and is informed around Charlie’s musical influences - Miles Davis, a heavy dose of the ECM record catalogue, his foundational love of Ringo and Charlie Watts, Joni, and maybe some other records from his collection that have seeped into his musical DNA, by the likes of The Blue Nile or John Martyn or Cocteau Twins.

At the release party at Solar Myth, I had the pleasure of doing an 11 minute and 20 second interview with Charlie. We talked about the secrets of a great deviled egg recipe, gongs or no gongs, his favorite song on the record (an excellent question that his son Miles asked me to ask), and when I asked Charlie to describe the record in some words, he said “love,” and “friendship.”

Love and friendship ooze off the grooves of Invisible Ink, and went into the making of it. It was important for Charlie to work with collaborators and friends to make the record. There are contributions from Jim Elkington (Tweedy, Joan Shelley, Steve Gunn), Thomas Hedlund (Phoenix), Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie), Brian Jones (Slang Sanctuary) and Daniel Clarke (kd lang), Frally Hynes (Venus & the Moon), Crisanta Baker (Lo Moon), Rosali Middleman, Andrew Barr (The Barr Brothers, Feist, The Slip) Tony Goddess (Papas Fritas), Dan Matz (Windsor for the Derby), James Lavino and his War On Drugs buddies Dave Hartley, Robbie Bennett, and Eliza Hardy Jones.

Invisible Ink is a record of a moment in time that took years to happen. When Charlie told me he had been working on the record over the last few years, I really had no idea what to musically expect. Well, I had some idea. It’s gorgeous. It’s contemplative. It’s love and it’s friendship. It’s Charlie Hall.

Bonus playlist: “Inspired By Invisibile Ink”