Long known for her hushed vocals and expansive, atmospheric sound, Maria Taylor returns to familiar terrain on the new Story’s End. The Azure Ray co-founder negotiates another round of fractured relationships and faded promises, only with a deeper sense of nuance and the quiet resilience that comes with age. Available now via Connor Oberst’s Million Stars label, Taylor’s eighth studio LP unfolds like a series of interconnected chapters punctuated by fleeting moments of clarity, each rife with emotional residue.
Story’s End took shape slowly, beginning as a collection of demos before its completion became more of a necessity in the wake of a failed marriage and the unraveling of a close friendship. Work moved from Taylor’s home studio to sessions with longtime Oberst associates Mike Mogis and Ben Brodin. A frequent presence behind the kit with Oberst’s Bright Eyes, Taylor played drums on much of the album, joined by brother Macey Taylor on bass. Other guests include Nik Freitas (Mystic Valley Band, For Stars) and Brad Armstrong (who produced the album’s obvious centerpiece, “Never Thought I’d Feel New”).
Elsewhere, Oberst supplied vocals and assorted lyrics, and Sally Dworsky provided layered harmonies. The string arrangements so essential to the title track and other more delicate moments on Story’s End were the handiwork of Bright Eyes’ Nate Walcott, with help from Rilo Kiley’s Pierre De Reeder.
MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland reached out to Taylor for a bit more clarity on Story’s End. He also got the definitive word on the status of Azure Ray.
These days, it seems like every album is billed as an artist’s most personal to date. But your work has always been personal—often painfully so. Where does Story’s End fall on that spectrum?
I write from my heart, and I write from my experiences. My early Azure Ray songs were about losing my boyfriend to a drug overdose. As I’ve done more living, they’ve covered my loves, my losses, my love of motherhood and my love of—and frustration with—this life. When I listen to my old records, it’s like looking at a photo album with added dimensions. This one was definitely fueled by a lot of emotion. And maybe as I’m nearing 50, I’m getting a little bolder about not veiling lyrics … owning it a little more. Maybe? I don’t know.
How did the dissolution of two crucial relationships serve as both inspiration for the songs and motivation to get the album finished and out there?
Well, one of them needed to happen, and the other one was one of the biggest shocks of my life. So I believe I was feeling every human emotion—and putting them into these songs. As I was really going through the thick of the hard times, I just needed to focus on getting this record finished.
How did the recording you did at home mesh with what you did in the studio?
I only recorded drums, bass and piano with Mike Mogis. He and I are great friends and have made many records together, but Bright Eyes was starting to tour and his schedule was filling up. So I had my friend Ben Brodin take over the project. He and Mogis had worked together for many years, and he’d just moved to Los Angeles. It really worked out perfectly. Ben added so much to the production and then mixed it beautifully. I honestly couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
If I’m not mistaken, Azure Ray never really broke up. You and Orenda Fink have continued to work together on and off over the years. What is it about your relationship that fosters that ability to come and go?
I was always focused on my solo work, but there was a time in 2008 when Orenda came to me and said, “What if we made another Azure Ray record?” I was signed to Nettwerk and feeling the real momentum of my solo career, but I felt like she needed us to make that record (2021’s Remedy)—she’d been in a slump for a few years. So, I took time away from my solo work to write and record, and then we toured for a year. During the pandemic, we were all just looking for outlets, and it was right around the 20th anniversary of our first record. It just seemed right to make it. For me, Azure Ray was always about friendship and love.
Given the recent Azure Ray reissue campaign, might there be another reunion in the works?
That record was the closer for Azure Ray.
See Maria Taylor live.
