White Fence :: Orange
Photo: Agathe Rousselle
“The psychology of orange in North America tells us that the color has traditionally been a symbol of optimism, happiness, enthusiasm, and youthful connections. It is also considered a spiritual color.” It’s also a delicious, round citrus that originates in Southeast Asia, specifically regions like southern China, where the fruit has been mentioned in Chinese literature dating back to 500 BC, Northeast India, and Malaysia, where cultivation has been practiced for several thousand years. It’s been over half a decade, seven years to be exact, since the last White Fence album, “I Have To Feed Larry's Hawk”, was released back in 2019 on the beloved Drag City label. Just writing out 2019 starts to tug at the heartstrings, as the cultural contrast between then and now couldn’t be further apart. For fans both new and old, this particular amount of time could be measured in several different exotic emotions and personal purifications of the soul, depending on who you ask, and what mortal memories individuals may have attached to previous songs and records. The last seven years have been, without a single doubt, the most exhausting and never-ending hell for most of us, what with the whole pandemic thing, riots, merciless murders, and global takeover, and whatnot. But here we are in the year 2026, and the California-based project of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and painter Tim Presley has returned to the soothing surface with the group’s ninth studio album “Orange”. It’s a miracle some artists have the energy and overall bandwidth to put themselves in that vulnerable place to begin creating again since the biblical bombing of industry, economy, and overall foundations of moral monopoly.
“Love/loss, addiction/rehabilitation, and a good long look in the mirror (by way of a shop window reflection in San Francisco). But also the absurdity of life... I wanted to sing my little heart out. Sing life.”
Photo: Agathe Rousselle
These are just a few of the evaporated elements that make a perfect breading for a new White Fence record, because if there’s one thing we know about Presley, it's that radical resilience he’s wielded like a battle axe through the tonal trenches like a whispering warrior destined for a voluminous victory. While the band has been a long-standing sonic sanctuary for so many people over the last decade and a half, it’s time that harmoniously heals all wounds in the end, and “Orange” is just the beginning. Recorded and mixed on tape by longtime friend and cosmic collaborator Ty Segall at Harmonizer II Studios in Topanga Canyon, California, in 2025, the album gracefully glides through the spiritual swells of life’s weird waters, before crashing onto the soft sandy shores of some abandoned island off the coast of “who the hell knows”. Where ancient alchemy meets the melodies of madness and sonic survival, Presley has eagerly established a poetic peace within his character and cultivated craft by creatively celebrating with a splendid collection of songs that belong in the ears and hearts of loyal listeners who’ve been by the veteran artist’s side all these years. Featuring an all-star cast of musicians such as Ty Segall, Dylan Hadley, and Alice Sandahl, Presley shatters the silvery skies above with a sensational dimension constructed of bravery, self-preservation, and the lingering language of love. Featuring tracks like “Reflection In A Shop Window On Polk”, “I Came Close, Orange For Luck”, and the album’s first two singles, “Unread Books”, and “Your Eyes”, the album’s atmospheric anatomy quickly fades in and out of creative consciousness, while simultaneously stimulating the nocturnal nerves riddled throughout the brain. Like an old door closing slowly at the end of the night when everyone in the neighborhood is already asleep, the distant dog howling at the moon is similar to the pulverizing protagonist in Stephen King’s Silver Bullet. You slowly lay your head down upon your weathered pillow, and quickly flip through your memory bank to reveal just how much you’ve overcome and mastered so far on your journey, while intimately inhabiting this mortal marble. “Orange”, which is set for release on Drag City April 24th, breathes endless life into the lyrical lungs just before exploring the next verse, where existence, and all its melodic mysteries, seem explainable if only for a moment.
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