Tiny Vipers

Though Seattle’s Jesy Fortino, a.k.a. Tiny Vipers, performs her songs solo with a guitar, she’s never been one to adhere to traditional singer-songwriter values. Over time, her music has effectively devolved, from slowly unfolding minimal folk to something black and desolate that may have more to do with Sunn O))) than Cat Power. Life On Earth is Tiny Vipers’ second album for Sub Pop, and it finds Fortino vacillating between a high, cracking croon and a deep, dark warble while she poses existential questions over a dooming analog score. The strangest thing about her music, however, is that while the songs get sparer with each release, they glow all the more brightly with a hidden, unnamable warmth. In advance of her show on Friday, June 26, at Le Poisson Rouge, Fortino talked with Decider about finding space in music, real chamber reverb, and mythical things in everyday life.
Decider: You sound more at home than ever over your new, bare-bones songs. What changed for you in approaching this record?
Jesy Fortino: I think I just grew up. I’m more mature than I was when I made the last record. I’ve played longer; touring makes you understand things a little better. I also wanted a simple analog recording. The first one was such a Pro Tools record. This one needed to be like a good live take. I like the limitations of recording on tape.
D: What appeals to you about working within such minimal songs?
JF: I don’t like loud, constant bombardment. I like something that gives you a little space, even when you turn it way up. Stuff like Arvo Pärt, where there’s room for me to use my imagination. You know, you listen to a song and the meaning changes with your mood. I like subtle things like that.
D: Have you intentionally pared down your own music over time?
JF: Yeah. When I started out, I was doing strummier, chord-based songs. It took time to develop more complex melodies. But it’s funny—I feel like my older stuff was more busy, but there was less going on.
D: You’ve said that you weren’t happy with the feel of working in a studio in the past. Were you hesitant to return to a formal setting this time?