When Kyle Craft made his debut album—2016’s Dolls of Highland—he did so on a laptop in a laundry room in Shreveport, Louisiana. He played almost all the parts himself (except for some drum tracks), and recorded with the freedom that comes with being relatively unknown.
By contrast, Craft made his new record Full Circle Nightmare with a full band in a real studio in his new home of Portland, with producer (and Decemberists guitarist) Chris Funk watching over the proceedings. And this time, he recorded with a successful debut in his rearview mirror—released via Sub Pop Records, no less—but also with the psychic weight of sophomore-album expectations.
Craft says the toughest part of making Nightmare wasn’t wrangling a band, or adjusting to the possibilities of a studio, or even knowing there were people out there eagerly awaiting his next record. It was loosening his grip on his own songs.