Drive-By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood has shared the second song, 'The Pool House', from his landmark new solo album, 'Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams' arriving via ATO Records on Friday, 21 February 2025.
“The Pool House” was originally inspired by a night I spent at a creepy rental,” says Hood. “A literal pool house for an apartment complex that I rented cheap for the night during a solo tour. It was off-season and the pool was dark green and filled with algae. The whole thing was creepy and as I’d had a couple of drinks, my mind was definitely wandering, conjuring up some macabre shit. I wrote most of it during lockdown and demoed it then on my home rig. I later recorded it with Nate Query (The Decemberists) playing upright bass and Dan Hunt (Neko Case) on drums. I played piano, guitar, vocals, and a trashcan as percussion on the bridge. Then I had Kyleen King do her magic adding viola and layers of strings (from her own arrangement) to it and the great Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) played flute, which he knocked out of the park. He had come by the studio to put some sax parts on some songs and I mentioned wanting a flute for this song. He asked me what kind of flute part I was thinking of and I said, “something like what Chris Wood would play in Traffic.” He just smiled and said he’d see what he could do. It’s one of the weirdest and most twisted tracks I have ever recorded and I’m really thrilled with how it all turned out.
“Frances Thrasher (Heaven4TheYoung), who painted the album cover, also does incredible and creepy stop-motion animation, and has made me a super cool video for the release using a vintage dollhouse and her own amazing skills and talents.”
