Tift Merritt Returns Home for 'See You on the Moon'

Tift Merritt composed her 2008 release, 'Another Country,' while briefly living in Paris, but for her new album, 'See You on the Moon,' the New York-based singer-songwriter found herself in more familiar territory -- her home state of North Carolina. "There's something special about making a record on your home turf," Merritt tells Spinner. "There is a sense of home about this record, in that we're all being ourselves and are really comfortable. The songs are my home, but I don't think it's a 'return home.' It's a step forward."

In doing so, she rounded up hotshot producer Tucker Maritine (the Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens), pedal steel whiz Greg Leisz and My Morning Jacket's Jim James, who lends vocals to the song 'Feel of the World.' "He and Tucker are really good friends," she says. "I don't know him really well, but some of our good friends work with My Morning Jacket, so we've crossed paths and he was generous to lend his voice."

Of her new work, Merritt says it's some of the most direct material she's ever written. "I think that comes across musically in that we didn't water it down," she says. "It's a really personal record, but not every song is autobiographical."

Indeed, the song 'After Today' is about juveniles who get life sentences before they're 18; the aforementioned 'Feel of the World' is about Merritt's grandparents; and the folk ballad title track is an ode to a childhood friend who passed away close to 10 years ago. "I tried to write that song closer to his death, but I felt that I just didn't know how to put that into words," she says. "But then the chorus came and it all came together." At some point, while Merritt was brushing her teeth, the refrain just popped in her head. And that was that.

'See You On the Moon' is out now on Fantasy/Concord. Check out the full stream of the album on Spinner's Listening Party and watch the video for 'Mixtape' here.