Plastic: The Album
Available 5/31/24
Listen to the singles below, or on all streaming services
“[Plastic’s] sustained W.T.F. brazenness deserves applause. [It] manages to raise urgent questions about climate change, political violence, and spirituality with high intelligence….we end in wondrous disbelief.” - The New York Times
“Scott Guild’s first solo album, Plastic, is a dark and entertaining saga….Plastic is that rarest of publishing experiences, a story being released simultaneously in prose and music.” - The Los Angeles Times
“Scott Guild has created something fascinating here...as if his great novel isn’t enough, he has made Plastic: The Album.” - NPR
“[An] epic music/novel project…a futuristic electronic sound based in classic emotive pop.” - The Boston Herald
“If the book’s unpacking of both the climate crisis and gun violence isn’t ambitious enough, the author also tees up an accompanying album…. pulling from Guild’s musical past as the bandleader of New Collisions, pop tracks will tell the story of plastic protagonist Erin James with real-life production by Peter Katis (the National, Sharon Van Etten). - The Austin Chronicle
Featured on NPR Music Playlist and radio show of Bob Boilen, creator of Tiny Desk Concerts + All Songs Considered
Plastic: The Album tells the story of the novel through a cycle of dynamic baroque-pop songs, featuring lyrics from the musical numbers in the book. The artist Stranger Cat (a frequent collaborator of Sufjan Stevens) stars on the album, singing in the voice of Erin James, the novel’s plastic protagonist.
The album grew out of a collaboration between Scott and the visionary artist Cindertalk (My Brightest Diamond, Son Lux), as well as the Grammy-winning producer Peter Katis (The National, Sharon Van Etten, Interpol). Other contributors include the artist Gainsayer (Ages and Ages).
