Kevin Bronson on October 31st, 2008

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On “Ten Readings of a Warning” (2007), his debut album as All Smiles, singer-guitarist Jim Fairchild came off as ruminative — a man likely still smarting over the breakup of Grandaddy, the band for which he toiled for more than a decade. Now Fairchild, who in the past few years has called Modesto, L.A., Portland and Chicago home, has completed a sophomore album that ratchets up both his sound and his sharply observant songwriting.

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“Oh for the Getting and Not Letting Go” finds Fairchild more frequently looking outward. “I think on the first album there was a sense of diffidence about it, an uncertainty about whether I was doing the right thing, that might have given it a bashful quality,” he says. “This new album to me feels more confident; it has more palpable energy.”

The album, made in Omaha and L.A. with collaborators Solon Bixler (Great Northern), Nik Freitas and Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse, Black Heart Procession), among others, is unreleased. All Smiles’ debut came out on L.A. imprint Dangerbird Records, but the artist and label have parted ways. “They decided they didn’t like the record,” says Fairchild, who, while declining to disclose details, says there is label interest in his new work.

Photo by Janet Weiss