HopMonk Novato Session Room

When is the right time to release another record of original music? Ask the Emmy- and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Peter Himmelman and he’s likely to answer with a question of his own: “When is the wrong time?”

To a standard-bearer like Himmelman — about whom Parke Puterburgh, former Rolling Stonesenior editor, wrote in Stereo Review, “is on thesame plane as Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, and Bruce Springsteen and nudging his way to ‘Dylanhood’” — writing, recording, and releasing new music is an essential part of living.

“I think of writing songs like I do respiration. It’s about taking in, and giving out,” Himmelman says. “The things we see and feel are often too difficult to convey in normal conversation.”

Press On, recorded live in the studio with the barest minimum of overdubs, captures the immediacy of Himmelman’s new songs and leaves his fervent vocals and guitar front and center. The 13 tracks, recorded in Los Feliz, California in June of 2019, feature players who are both musical experts and close friends of Himmelman’s: Jimi Englund on drums and percussion, Greg Herzenach on guitar, Chris Joyner on keyboards, and co-producer Matthew Thompson on upright bass.

Although the recording process for Press On took just under four days, writing the songs, refining them, and deciding which of his more than 40 new songs would make the final cut, began over three years ago. The album is due out on Himmasongs/Six Degrees Records on July 31, 2020.