Freak Accident, by Al Menne

Freak Accident

by Al Menne

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Simon Russek This song feels like i've known it my whole life Favorite track: Kill Me.

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1.	Kill Me 03:45	info	buy track
2.	Grandma's Garden 02:20	lyrics	buy track
Running out through the muddy meadow Limbs flailing out of the wheelbarrow Down to the edge of Grandma’s garden Is this everything you thought you’d wanted? Petulant kid playing silent treatment Doubling down ‘cuz you know I’m stubborn Obvious where I could’ve got that from Am I not who you thought I would be Am I not who you thought I would be Am I not who you thought I would be Am I not who you thought I would be?
3.	What U Want 03:24	lyrics	buy track
I met you at a party when I was sober You were wasted, confessing over How you’d cheated with a past love Crossed my heart I’d never tell anyone ‘cuz Splitting hairs feels just like your parents I changed the subject to make fun of the art kids ‘Cuz we’re not like them, we didn’t go to college Is that all I have? What the hell is this? Watch in a haze as you walk To the station through the fog You were right, I’m always wrong I cannot be what you want I cannot be what you want I fell unintended, no sleight of hand But you’re a good magician You left me levitating in the static Now you’re pulling tapes out of the attic Watch in a haze as you walk To the station through the fog You were right, I’m always wrong I cannot be what you want I cannot be what you want I cannot be what you want
4.	Saddle 03:00	lyrics	buy track
Writhe on the floor realizing everything is finite No matter how much you beg, even good dogs do die Uh huh Payin’ my debt to everyone i love Ok well, who decided this is the way that I live? Loose reins, there is no saddle No more than I can handle Uh huh Drivin’ my car thinkin’ I had it all in my pocket Goin over the same conversations goin nowhere Uh huh Payin’ my debt to everyone I love Ok well, who decided this is the way that I live? Loose reins there is no saddle No more than I can handle Uh huh
5.	Freak Accident 04:26	lyrics	buy track
Givin’ out presents but nothin’ for me Bearing the brunt of the least liked sibling Passin’ the shame like an unlit torch I’m not sure I can take it You made me my worst Tracing the patterns Connecting the dots A long rigid line on the back of your arm Holdin’ my head up against your words Testing the pressure but I’m gonna burst Veering the canyon, I took a wrong turn Squint through the dark Looks like I’m gonna burn Up in the headlights Brace for impact Out on the road and I’m not coming back I’m a freak accident head on collision just waiting to happen I’m a freak accident head on collision just waiting to happen I’m a freak accident head on collision just waiting to happen I’m a freak accident head on collision just waiting to happen I’m a freak accident head on collision just waiting to happen I’m a freak accident head on collision just waiting to happen I’m a freak accident head on collision just waiting to happen I’m a freak accident head on collision just waiting to happen I’m a freak accident head on collision just waiting to happen I’m a freak accident head on collision just waiting to happen
6.	W Arms Wide Open 02:22	lyrics	buy track
They’re feeding you poison again But you’re still a good little kid Sayin’ that they must’ve had good intentions So we steep in the anger a while Flicking the ash in a pile Jokin’ that this isn’t much different I’d do almost anything for you I’d do almost anything for you I’d do almost anything ‘Cuz you’ve always been a good friend You scream with me into the wind Listening to “with arms wide open” I’d do almost anything for you I’d do almost anything for you I’d do almost anything for you I’d do almost anything for you We always call when we can But no amount of time passed Could ever change the way that I love you
7.	Beth 04:17	lyrics	buy track
Beth is collecting up her treasures Stacking them high along the walls of the farmhouse Each a symbol of what was taken When she was just a kid that man was so sadistic They say it started with the death of Lennon But the memories get passed through generation And she doesn’t know how to drown them out I know this feeling isn’t nameless Pulling at the words that grief effaces You can’t sound them out But I could hold you now if you show me how Bobby’s setting fire in the pasture Trying his best to carve his way back to her Watching the smoke she spins out slowly Saying “those were my things, my only things, I loved them” And he doesn’t know how to fix it now I know this feeling isn’t nameless Pulling at the words that grief effaces You can’t sound them out But I could hold you now if you show me how Janie’s crying in the backseat And I wonder if she knows those little parts of me She says this pain isn’t only mine Now that I know I’ll protect you I’ll cut all those lines But I don’t know how I could have let you down
8.	Feeling Meaning 01:03	lyrics	buy track
You don’t have to give it meaning Just lay into the feeling Someday it’s all gonna be Water under something That you just can’t see But you’re caught up spinning A tender little fantasy In the grief of wanting In the hopes of longing But you don’t have to give it meaning Just lay into the feeling
9.	Careful Heart 04:07	lyrics	buy track
Crying to your favorite song With my suitcase on the floor But your light’s worth waiting for True and eudaemonic love When my cup feels so empty Lean into your empathy Do you want to build a little life with me Do you want to build a little life with me Build a little life with me Listened to the passing cars Watched your eyes change in the dawn Feeling centered feeling calm Do you want to build a little life with me I do want to build a little life with you Do you want to build a little life with me I do want to build a little life with you Build a little life with you Build a little life with you Talking with a careful heart Baby there’s nothin’ to prove Nico, I believe in you Do you want to build a little life with me I do want to build a little life with you Do you want to build a little life with me I do want to build a little life with you Build a little life with you Build a little life with you (I do believe in you) (I do believe in you) Build a little life with you

about

"Al Menne has spent a lot of time driving in cars. Whether taking trips up and down the West Coast, touring in a van, or working as a delivery driver, they’ve become intimate with the possibility, at any moment, of disaster. “At the end of a very long driving shift,” Menne says, “there’s a moment when you realize, I shouldn’t be driving right now. Anything can happen. You really can’t be in control of everything that’s happening around you.” Freak Accident, their debut solo album, probes this feeling as it unfurls with the patient ease of a passing landscape while harboring the kinetic weight of life’s chaos at its core.

Menne came up in the music scene as the lead singer of Seattle-based rock band Great Grandpa. In this outfit, Menne’s remarkable voice was on full display, despite not being the primary songwriter. When Great Grandpa took a break in 2019 due to various life circumstances, Menne was free to explore new musical pockets and step into their own as a songwriter, which precipitated a move from their lifelong home in Seattle to Los Angeles in 2021. There, they connected with an impressive cast of collaborators and friends that helped bring Freak Accident to life, including producer Christian Lee Hutson, engineer and mixer Melina Duterte (Jay Som), and guitarist Meg Duffy (Hand Habits).

Menne’s songs are filled with clever melodies and honeyed, homespun rock arrangements that showcase their taut songwriting. They manage to collapse a maze of gnarled emotions into clear, direct, and inviting pathways, often using humor as an access point to something more profound. On lead single “Kill Me,” for instance, Menne turns the sarcastic eye-roll of the phrase “kill me now” into a heartfelt plea for love, while the acerbic refrain of the title track reshapes a faintly ominous admission into a mantra that seems to embrace all of life’s whims: “I’m a freak accident / head-on collision just waiting to happen.”

Embedded in the act of calling themself a “freak” is the underlying feeling of not belonging, which Menne calls “a big theme in the writing. I felt kind of like an outsider in my own family for a little bit. I’d ask myself, why do I feel so weird in all of these situations? And I think it’s because I’m trans, and I didn’t know it then.” This sense of physical and emotional displacement resounds across the album as Menne seeks to be fully seen.

The album’s closing track “Careful Heart,” then, is ultimately a song of redemption. Written about their partner Nico Jodi Levine, whose pedal steel playing provides a backbone of bright musical brushstrokes across the album, it’s a triumphant closer that completes the thematic arc: Menne has found the love and acceptance they were looking for, recognizing that there’s always the risk of collision as two independent bodies come together, but that building “a little life” together is worth it.

At just under thirty minutes, Freak Accident is an inviting meditation on seeking protection from life’s chaotic thunderbolts in our relationships and connections. These nine songs, like smooth rocks pocketed for self-soothing, serve to shore us up against situations that are ultimately out of our control. On tracks that veer through canyons, careen across highways, and wend through the avenues of memory, Menne offers us a way through."

-by Nandi Rose

Freak Accident was released 09/22/23 on Double Double Whammy

credits

released September 22, 2023

Produced by Christian Lee Hutson with additional production by Al Menne

Engineered and mixed by Melina Duterte

Mastered by Greg Obis

Drums:
Remy Morrit on Kill Me, Beth Careful Heart
Bobby Grandfelt on Grandma's Garden, Freak Accident
Christian Lee Hutson: w/ arms wide open

Pedal steel:
Nico Jodi Levine on Freak accident, Beth

Dobro:
Nico Jodi Levine on Careful heart

Guitar:
Meg Duffy on Grandma's Garden

Trumpet:
Melina Duterte on Careful Heart

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about

Al Menne

He/ they w heart of gold

shows

Apr 27

Barboza

Seattle, WA
Apr 28

Lanalou's

Vancouver, BC

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