I Also Want to Die in New Orleans

Released in 2019, 'I Also Want to Die in New Orleans' represents the logical extreme of Mark Kozelek's late-career shift toward 'diary-folk.' Following the template established on 'Benji' but stripping away the melodic accessibility, this album consists of seven tracks that function as long-form spoken word pieces. The recording is characterized by its extreme minimalism, often featuring nothing more than a single nylon-string guitar loop and Kozelek's unvarnished vocal. Lyrically, the album is a travelogue and a social critique, touching on everything from the Parkland shooting to mundane interactions in hotel lobbies. It is a polarizing entry in the Sun Kil Moon catalog, moving further away from the 'slowcore' roots of Red House Painters and into a territory that borders on avant-garde performance art. The album's title is a nod to the $uicideboy$ album 'I Want to Die in New Orleans,' signaling Kozelek's continued interest in contemporary culture even as his music remains sonically isolated.