Nathan Larson

Nathan Larson has always displayed his singer/songwriter heart boisterously, never once veering toward the lo-fi shoegazing that took over most of the musical '90s. Beginning in 1992 with his work with the post-punk-, R&B-, and glam-rock-informed Shudder to Think, Larson incorporated his penchant for emotive musical swells and lust-drenched crooning. On STT's Pony Express Record he contributed his electric blues-influenced guitar work in addition to cowriting some of the album's most accomplished tracks. And on their beefier 50,000 B.C., he contributed to five songs and sang backup to Craig Wedren's more insistent lead. In 1998, the mostly instrumental soundtrack to the film High Art saw Larson reaching further into his arranging abilities, with ambient, subdued tracks replacing the angular sound the band had previously cultivated. He also wrote and sang on the score's only vocal track. The accomplished First Love, Last Rites, also a soundtrack, which boasts vocal contributions by the late Jeff Buckley as well as those of Nina Persson, Liz Phair, and Billy Corgan, contains some of his best songwriting work to date. Larson left Shudder to Think in 1999, and the group disbanded soon after. His first solo effort was to score the Academy Award winning Boys Don't Cry, which secured him representation by Hollywood's Blue Focus Management and, subsequently, work with filmmakers Joel Schumacher (Tigerland and Phonebooth), Morgan Freeman (Desert Blue), Jesse Peretz (Le Chateau), and Todd Solondz (Storytelling). In 2001, Larson released his first non-soundtrack solo recording, Jealous God. Citing the production values of Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Morrissey) and the "organic balladry" of soul mogul Al Green as influences, Larson left most of the aggressive leanings of his former band behind for this set. It was produced by Langer and Winstanley, and is a collection of soulful and inspired gems.