
New York plays a big role in your songwriting. So it comes from my time as an American living as a Londoner. When I returned home I got a lot of grief from my friends who thought I was affecting my new vernacular. As I spent more time I started picking up new phrases and really a completely new way of speech. When I first moved I was at a loss sometimes when local slang interjected into conversation. I was living in London for a good stretch of time and ended up recording my EP and album there. It 's about love, loss, travel, isolation, and everything else I experienced along the way. How does American English compare?Īmerican English was lifted from the journal entries during the period of about four years that I was creating this record. You've said that Headlights pulled a lot of inspiration from the people around you and what was going on in your life. When she had the journal, she filled it up and we both signed our entries off with "like Carter and Cash," and that's really how it all came to be. When I started traveling for music, I kept a journal that I traded off with her as we sporadically met up in between writing trips. When I wrote it, my girlfriend at the time and I idolized their relationship and fantasized our relationship being as iconic. I was always a big fan of Johnny Cash and, like many others, loved the Man in Black and the aesthetic he put forth. Check them out, and read our interview with Miller, below.Ĭan you tell me a little bit about the story behind "Carter & Cash"? Are you a big fan? As it turns out, the New York skyline casts a long shadow over Miller's songs, from their lyrical references to their more subtle nods to the city's vibrant energy and timeless musical traditions.īelow, we're sharing some behind-the-scenes pics from Miller's recent NYC gig at the Knitting Factory. "I left home about a week ago," he sings on "Baby Blue," before exposing his broken heart over a romantic bed of lounge piano. In a way, it's a love letter to both an ex and Miller's homebase.

Recorded in London during Miller's extended stay in the UK, American English is an album about youth, love, and the myriad emotions that come with being alone in a foreign city.

While the city plays a major part in Miller's first LP American English (out September 30), its role-like "Surrender"'s self-assured intro-is only half the story. As it progresses, "Surrender" reveals itself to be a breakup anthem set to movie-score-level theatrics, with New York's familiar subways and bridges as the backdrop. Before the 22-year-old's vocals even come in on lead track "Surrender," we're hit with a massive swell of strings, brass, and piano. If we were to judge albums on their opening numbers, Tor Miller's debut would be the most confident one we've heard all year.
