Sean Solomon Details Debut Album ‘The World Is Not Good Enough’

Musician and animator Sean Solomon had great expectations. But when his hopes for an abundant world crashed against an unforgiving reality, he decided to feel nothing. For a time, the Los Angeles-born-and-raised singer/songwriter and cartoonist/animator gave into the void, but artistic expression can be a release valve – a way to comprehend the world and build community, which is exactly what Solomon does on his debut solo album The World Is Not Good Enough, arriving April 17 via his new label home of ANTI- Records.

Solomon takes stock of his personal history on “Remember,” out today, which comes with a video comprising clips taken from Sean’s family’s home movies. “My parents asked me to digitize our old family videos, and I ended up cutting them up into a music video and the visuals I perform live with,” Sean explains. “I’ve noticed at shows people really connect with this song and it reminds them of their own families. I think it’s hard for most people to have empathy for their parents because they are supposed to serve this purpose in our lives where they take care of us and know what’s right or wrong … But everyone has both sides to them. This song is about trying to remember the good.”

The album art features Sean’s winking take on a Richard Scarry book cover and mirrors the cognitive dissonance that pervades the album, which seamlessly moves from bare-bones acoustic guitar to a Neutral Milk Hotel-esque cacophony of marching drums and horn blasts. “I was thinking about those books and how they show an idyllic version of the world,” Sean says. “I thought it was kind of funny — the contrast between the title and the images. Like, there’s a dog walking a dog on the back cover, an elephant drinking out of a coffee cup with its snout. It was fun to study these children’s books and think about what my version would be.”

Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, Solomon felt especially drawn to both music and animation and immersed himself in episodes of The Simpsons and illustrated stories by graphic novelist and Ghost World author Daniel Clowes. Meanwhile, Sean was an avid fan of seminal ’90s and early 2000s punk and alternative acts such as Daniel Johnston, Elliott Smith and Nirvana, the latter of whom he admired for the way they preserved their artistic integrity in the face of global stardom. Adopting his own punk sensibility, Sean and his high school band, the folk-punk Moses Campbell, played all over LA, booking their own shows at coffee shops, houses, and famed DIY venue The Smell. This was followed by playing in the three-piece band Moaning, who released two albums on Sub Pop.

Tomorrow Solomon embarks on a European tour with Unknown Mortal Orchestra, travelling to Germany, Sweden, the UK and more. All upcoming dates are listed below.

The World Is Not Good Enough Track Listing:

1. Car Crash
2. Finish Line
3. Shooting Star
4. Overdose
5. Remember
6. Postcard
7. Blackhole
8. Korpo

Tour Dates:

March 10 – Vilnius, Lithuania @ Kablys #
March 11 – Riga, Latvia @ Palladium Riga #
March 12 – Gdansk, Poland @ Stary Manez #
March 13 – Berlin, Germany @ Metropol #
March 15 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega #
March 16 – Oslo, Norway @ Rockefeller #
March 18 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Nalen / Fallen #
March 19 – Lund, Sweden @ Meteriet #
March 20 – Hamburg, Germany @ Mojo Club #
March 22 – Utrecht, Netherlands @ Trivoli #
March 23 – Antwerp, Belgium @ De Roma #
March 24 – Paris, France @ Le Trianon #
March 26 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland #
March 27 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall #
March 28 – Sheffield, UK @ Sheffield Foundry #
March 30 – London, UK @ Earth Theater #

# – with Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Sean Solomon ‘The World Is Not Good Enough’ album artwork