For Kenneth Close and Tracy Wilson, home is a continuous reclamation process. As Outer World, they revel in that concept on a self-released album that encompasses family, identity, belonging and the possibility of transforming difficult personal histories into something new. Two years removed from Who Does The Music Love?, Outer World has expanded from a marital duo into a full six-piece band. What began as a COVID-era home-studio experiment combining electronic and organic instrumentation has developed into a more collaborative undertaking, with synthesizers and samples sharing space with conventional instrumentation.
With combined backgrounds that include such emo/indie acts as Positive No, Dahlia Seed and Ringfinger, Close and Wilson are a product of their far-flung influences, from spaghetti-Western soundtracks, twangy Lee Hazlewood guitars and contemporary classical music to early punk and ’80s college rock. Like the concept that inspired its title, Home (Courtesy Desk/K) quickly outgrows its original structure, creating room for new relationships, new sounds and new possibilities. Here’s more on the albumfrom Wilson.
—Hobart Rowland
1) “La Dimora”
Vibe: “Mortality racing along the cliffs of Monaco in a black sports car.”
Lyrical influence: “Italian for ‘home.’ It’s also where all living things return to the earth.”
Musical influence: “Channeling our inner Morricone with Kate and Cindy backseat driving.”
Favorite line: “There is no calendar for these strange days.”
2) “Double Dragonette”
Vibe: “‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’ 2.0.”
Lyrical influence: “Bringing a ’60s female comic-book character to life. Surprise … A feminist can also have a sense of humor.”
Musical influence: “The Music Machine and ’70s Rough Trade singles hitting it off.”
Favorite line: “TNT for two fists/Topping charts with 10 smash hits.”
3) “Becoming”
Vibe: “Unhurried. Ditch the to-do list, list what you’ve done, and take a minute to appreciate your accomplishments.”
Lyrical influence: “Directions for a spell to set intentions, self-care and protection from hurtful outside forces.”
Musical influence: “Sisters with transistors, BBC Radiophonic Workshop, witchy lullabies”
Favorite line: “I am dynamite, and I am dust/I am golden, and I am rust.”
4) “Break That Chain”
Vibe: “Lipsticks that reveal a hidden blade, and other feminism-based Trojan horses.”
Lyrical influence: “’60s girl group-inspired. Unhappy? Rebuild/recreate a whole new you. A new chapter can be built upon failure as easily as a success. Note to self: A spectacular fail often leads to a spectacular accomplishment. This is a ‘new you’ anthem.”
Musical influence: “Look at what happens when you give Jacques Dutronc And The Pussycats a drum machine.”
Favorite line: “Destroy everything and encourage change/Explore, upend, and start again, start again, start again.”
5) “Ascending Pathways”
Vibe: “Sensual vulnerability as represented with a marble feather.”
Lyrical influence: “Finding home in a person.”
Musical influence: “Delicate doom-dub is the intersection where Björk meets King Midas Sound.”
Favorite line: “I saw your face, and it told me something I didn’t know before.”
6) “The Etude”
Vibe: “Bombastic energy.”
Lyrical influence: “Overconsumption is consuming all of us, and people with an overabundance of wealth and possessions always seem to be the ones who don’t want others with less to have the same opportunities they had.”
Musical influence: “It’s a family affair: A mandolin once owned by Frederick Keats, my great-grandfather, and an organ sample from Chris, my brother. The sample was taken from a tiny piece he played on a mix tape for his best friend, shared with me 25 years after his death.”
Favorite line: “So comfortable, you’re uncomfortable with others working toward a better life.”
7) “Naming Colours”
Vibe: “There’s no better way to ruin a thing you love than by putting it under a microscope.”
Lyrical and musical influences: “A meditation on decades of writing music reviews, wrapped in a Mort Garson tribute.”
Favorite line: “To tame all the colours in my ears confines what should be free.”
8) “Present Perfect Future Past”
Vibe: “Music as a powerful weapon.”
Lyrical influence: “A revolution can be on many scales—from personal all the way to global. Here it’s been bathed in Eastern philosophy.”
Musical influence: “What began as a riff inspired by an early track by the Algernian rock band Les Abranis decided to hit the road and travel 2,000 miles to Lagos for a little Fela energy.”
Favorite line: “Revolution has a rhythm.”
9) “Golden Library Of Knowledge”
Vibe: “A traveler untethered to one place, feeling like a fish out of water everywhere—much like a touring musician.”
Lyrical influence: “Inspired by The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, which depicts technology and the unknowns of what the future can and will bring as things of awe and fear. Even though this was written more than a year ago, it feels unbelievably timely as we worry about how humanity could be threatened by AI.”
Musical influence: “Tension and relief moving like a shimmering anchor sinking into black, silky water. Mysterious, cinematic sci-fi soaked in paranoia—luminous beauty that simultaneously pulls you downward into a murky depth that fills our imagination with dread.”
Favorite line: “A memory before it’s born waiting to become a broken clock.”
10) “Pendula”
Vibe: “Danger. ‘Pendula’ is intended to be a timeless love song and a theme for Tracy Bond—epic, romantic and tragic all at once. At last, the iconic women of this spy universe have their own signature siren song.”
Lyrical influence: “It’s been argued that among the tragic—mostly female—characters in the James Bond franchise, Tracy is the saddest of all. She was James Bond’s wife, killed shortly after their picturesque wedding in the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. My father was such a fan of the Bond books and films that it’s this Tracy for whom I was named.”
Musical influence: “Danger. Seduction. Duty. Desire. But with guitars.”
Favorite line: “Swinging for the clouds, pendula strikes ground.”
11) “Wave In The Water”
Vibe: “Everything and everyone on the planet is interconnected.”
Lyrical influence: “A reminder for myself to go with the flow rather than get trapped in a thought loop over things we can’t control. Important: Grief does not have a finite finish line.”
Musical influence: “Our ode to Lee Hazlewood, Nancy Sinatra and Minnie Riperton, with a kiss of French psych and philosopher Alan Watts.”
Favorite line: “A wave in the water is an ocean.”
