Adeem the Artist

As they began working on a new batch of songs, Adeem the Artist was busy thinking about the way a lifetime of experiences can pile up in a person’s brain. “Traumatic events and warm events leave psychological imprints — there’s this pattern to it,” says the Knoxville, Tennessee-based performer. “Different moments and different impressions throughout our lives will ripple out and demand repeated engagement. They play out in little holidays that we celebrate over and over.” Those patterns and markers of time are a crucial thread running through Adeem’s new album Anniversary. Recorded live to tape over five days at The Butcher Shop and produced by Butch Walker, with the master musicianship of Megan Coleman, Nelson Williams, Ellen Angelico, Jessye DeSilva, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and Katie Pruitt, the 12-song collection is a stunning statement of empathy, humor, and deep introspection.