• DEAN WAREHAM - THAT'S THE PRICE OF LOVING ME Vinyl LP

DEAN WAREHAM - THAT'S THE PRICE OF LOVING ME Vinyl LP

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n June 1990, Kramer and Dean Wareham made Galaxie 500’s final album, This Is Our Music.  “Things were tense in the band,” recalls Dean, “but there were exciting moments too. Kramer  would suggest things like playing up high on the neck for ‘Fourth of July.’ I also remember  taking a break to catch Total Recall on opening day.” Kramer also toured with the band as  their sound engineer, often sharing hotel rooms with Dean. However, their paths diverged  after Galaxie 500’s breakup.

Over the years, they stayed in touch, with Kramer often suggesting they make another record.  It wasn’t until the pandemic, after Dean lost close friends, that he decided to move forward.  The result, That’s the Price of Loving Me, was recorded over six days in Los Angeles. Kramer  stayed with Dean and his wife, Britta Phillips, and they even paused recording one day to  see Kurosawa’s Ran. The album’s 10 tracks retain echoes of Wareham and Kramer’s earlier work but are more complex,  with influences from Bacharach, Gainsbourg, and Norma Tanega. Dean’s signature guitar stylings  anchor the songs, and Kramer encouraged him to play all the guitar parts. “Kramer believes  two takes yield more treasure than twenty,” says Dean. Kramer’s touch is evident throughout, playing piano, organ, and synthesizers. Phillips  contributes bass and vocals, while Roger Brogan and Anthony LaMarca handle drums. Gabe Noel  arranged and performed cello on four tracks without hearing them beforehand. Dean’s voice  is now lower and more intimate but still hits high notes, as heard on his cover of Nico’s  “Reich der Träume.”

Dean also covers Mayo Thompson’s “Dear Betty Baby,” creating symmetry with Galaxie 500’s  earlier cover of The Red Krayola’s “Victory Garden.” This time, he draws from Thompson’s solo album, Corky’s Debt to His Father.

That’s the Price of Loving Me is Dean’s fourth solo album and his first for Carpark Records.  While the album nods to Galaxie 500, it focuses on the passage of time. “Imagination is  memory,” Dean notes, “expanding everything we can remember.”

“34 years is a long time,” says Kramer, “but working with Dean again felt seamless. The ‘full circle’ air still lingers. Collaborations like this are incredibly rare, and I’m grateful to  have been invited inside again.”