Richmond Fontaine
You Can't Go Back If There's Nothing To Go Back To

I don't think it's possible to truly grasp the magnitude of what the USA really are if you've never been there. If you haven't stayed there long enough to understand, of course. And if you haven't traveled enough, I'm not saying to see everything because that's impossible, but at least to see a sufficient number of places and meet a sufficient number of different people. Naturally, I'm also talking about myself. In the sense that I, too, have never been to the United States of America. My grandfather was there during the Second World War, but that's another story and not the time to tell it now.

There are fifty states and each one has its own characteristics and peculiarities. Some years ago (let's say about a decade), Sufjan Stevens declared that he intended to write an album for every single state. He eventually gave up and only wrote an album about Michigan and another about Illinois. A brief side note: these are two truly beautiful albums and probably still the best he's ever recorded.

Neil Young, who was born in Toronto (Canada), said that there are three great songwriters in North America: himself, of course, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. This is his opinion, obviously. I believe he probably means that the three of them represent every aspect of music on that continent. That their songs each describe, in their own way, a different aspect of the society they live in, and obviously all three have traveled and played in many places, met a lot of people, and have a huge following.

I believe what's still so fantastic about the imagery of the United States today is the idea that it seems like, if you were really there, you could go anywhere and start walking without ever stopping, just like Jack Kerouac did and like Neal Cassady did until he died of exposure along the tracks of one of the many railway lines that cross the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. But that's not all. The truth is that in the United States, there isn't a real place where you must go, and consequently, there isn't even a place where you must necessarily return.

I think this is the main concept that Willy Vlautin, one of the greatest singer-songwriters and songwriters in the USA today, wanted to convey in his latest album. The latest album by Richmond Fontaine, recorded and produced in Portland, Oregon by John Askew at Flora Studio. The band's tenth album and the first after five years.

After all, it is not possible to talk about Richmond Fontaine and their latest album, titled appropriately 'You Can't Go Back If There's Nothing To Go Back' (out via Decor last March 18th), without talking about Willy Vlautin's writing. Songwriter and literary author, he has always written and sung not only what we might call the landscape of the frontier USA. What we once might have called 'pioneer land.' We are not simply faced with an alt-country band. In a way, Vlautin's writing is exactly what we might consider as rock and roll, in the expression of what I consider the greatest songwriter of all time, Bob Dylan.

The Duluth singer-songwriter, never denying his origins and history, has always sought and still seeks today to be critical of himself and the society in which he lives. He constantly performs a process of self-demolition and renewal. Similarly, Willy Vlautin doesn't just sing about the outskirts and the countryside, nor does he just write songs that talk about love and hate. His music, the music of Richmond Fontaine, is instead completely immersed in the society in which we live.

It's tough to consider this their last album. It was a difficult decision to make, but as Willy said, making decisions is probably the best way to leap forward and move on in your own way. What I can say is that I'm sure he still has a lot of good stories to tell (he's involved, among other things, in many projects, including the Delines with Amy Boon, a band I highly suggest listening to) and, as for me, I will try to consider this as a lesson and an opportunity to understand something more about myself and life. And also about the United States of America. Why not.