Strand of Oaks / Harder Love

Harder Love is the latest release from Strand of Oaks, a collection of Tim Showalter’s original recordings for the album Hard Love. Pairing the earliest versions Hard Love tracks with previously-unreleased material (including some songs deemed “too weird” for the official release), Harder Love feels like Hard Love in an alternate dimension. A whole lot stranger and even more raw, it’s like the tripped out, spiritual brother to its predecessor.

In the winter of 2016, Showalter spent a week recording with Ben Vehorn at Tangerine Studios in Akron, Ohio, the two having previously collaborated on Pope Killdragon (2010) and HEAL (2014). A few of the songs captured during that initial studio session went on to be rerecorded, but much of Harder Love is hazy, unknown territory, offering additional perspective on Showalter’s Hard Love vision, as well as exciting new material to add to the Strand of Oaks discography. “These songs are me unedited…I just want people to have them. I’m sick of overthinking and talking too much about the process and the narrative.”