'I'm told to go it alone and just forget / you can love the song but you just can't love the man' 'I was alone, unpacking boxes in the strange old craftsman I rented a room in during my divorce. Out of nowhere my computer turned on and started playing Townes Van Zandt's 'For the Sake of the Song'. I shivered. I melted. I picked up my guitar and wrote 'If Not The Man''.

Years later, in an "about damn time" kind of moment, Seattle based singer-songwriter Caitlin Sherman is stepping out solo. She's had her fair share of collaborations over the years, most notably the cosmic psych rock of Evening Bell and the hazy noir of Slow Skate. As a songwriter and arranger in both projects, she also held the role of girlfriend and wife. Now she is neither.

Her debut self-titled album is a meditation on love lost and carving out a new independent path. Dark contemplative songwriting explored through fresh unpredictable pop sensibility, dripping with art and purpose. And while past projects incorporated vast soundscapes and string arrangements written by Sherman herself, she made the decision to stick to a set band sound making sure the song itself was the centerpiece.