Steve Gunn

It’s hard to believe that Music For Writers comes in as Steve Gunn’s first solo instrumental album. That particular piece of trivia seems almost entirely impossible, but here were are, sitting with that fact in the last half of 2025. Gunn’s been a fixture here for the entire stretch of RSTB; from the psych-scorch of GHQ, the Cale-melted twang of Golden Gunn, his work with Black Twig Pickers, and his jazz-bent sojourns with Beings. Those all found him in great company, sometimes instrumental, but never solo. When he’s been on his own, its been through the indelible singer-songwriter records that worked their way from Digitalis to Paradise of Bachelors to Matador, offering up a singular voice that matched his stringwork to his storytelling. Here, on Music For Writers, he brings together quite a few corners of his catalog, a working travelogue that reflects the heart’s longing and lingering shades all through the tumble and twist of his synth and strings.

The album was recorded in locales both home and abroad, captured minimally in spaces in Brooklyn, Berlin, and Latvia. The record is a reflection of its environments, often capturing not only the sound of Steve’s guitar and synth, but the ambiance of the rooms themselves. The environments become a part of the pieces, stretching afternoon light, dusty corners, running water, and wooden walls over the cracks and crevices of his recordings. There’s a lonesome, languorous air to Music For Writers. Gunn’s never been a particularly rushed songwriter, but rarely has his work felt as meticulously patient as it does here. Perhaps the closest companion would be his recent pairings with David Moore, forming a kinship between both records’ meditative resolve. Each piece on Music for Writers is a terrarium in time, lovingly bottled and bloomed to create this collection of curios. It may have taken years to find Steve solo and instrumental, but its clearly worth the wait.

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