RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And time now for our music project, Heavy Rotation. Each month, NPR Music turns to public radio DJs and program directors to name their favorite new tune. And each month, we feature one of those picks here on MORNING EDITION.
JESSI WHITTEN, BYLINE: My name is Jessi Whitten. I'm the music director of OPEN AIR, from Colorado Public Radio.
MONTAGNE: Her pick is "Silver Timothy" by Damien Jurado.
WHITTEN: Damien Jurado is a Seattle-based musician. "Maraqopa" is his last record that came out, and it was beginning with this theme of a man who's leaving home, never to return, to find himself. And this is picking up where that left off.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILVER TIMOTHY")
DAMIEN JURADO: (Singing) I was met on the road by a face I once knew. Shapeless was his frame, and his colors were few.
WHITTEN: Maybe the problem is that I saw "American Hustle" too recently. What I literally see is walking through a poolside party in the '70s, and everyone's beautiful and wearing sunglasses and just being as hedonistic as I imagine the '70s were. So, that's where this beginning takes me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILVER TIMOTHY")
JURADO: (Singing) Go back down, don't touch the ground. Go back down, don't touch the ground. Go back down...
WHITTEN: All of the sudden, there is this psychedelic cyclone that's just pulling you towards madness.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILVER TIMOTHY")
WHITTEN: It's like you're caught in the tornado, and you're about to meet little people in "The Wizard of Oz."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILVER TIMOTHY")
JURADO: (Singing) I was met on the road by a face that was mine.
WHITTEN: He's been making music for about 20 years now, so throughout that time, people have known him as a number of different things, primarily as a folk musician. And now he's really moving out of his folk element here.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILVER TIMOTHY")
MONTAGNE: That's Jessi Whitten, of Colorado Public Radio. Her pick for this month's Heavy Rotation: "Silver Timothy," by Damien Jurado. And you can find our complete list at NPR.org.