Albert Hammond Jr. decides he's Yours To Keep
When Albert Hammond Jr. talks about his first album away from the Strokes there is a slight bit of complete excitement in his voice. His album, Yours to Keep, invites the listener to his world. A world that was inspired by Lou Reed’s “Street Hassle” and all those little things we all take for granted:
“I think just everyday actions inspire me,” he said, “It is things that are just inside of you; life in general. Everything from food to a movie to a book to even being tired.”
Hammond feels he still has a lot to learn when it comes to writing lyrics to his songs. He is “a work in progress” who is “still trying to figure it all out.” Maybe he hasn’t gotten it all worked out, but upon a close listen his album is decidedly complete. It is all his own.
It is one he wrote in spaces in between his work with the Strokes, where he plays guitar and is famous for his keenness for stylish suits. The music wasn’t meant to be anything for anybody else to hear, but it eventually turned into something when “by the eighth or ninth song I thought ‘this is a record. This is cool,’” he said.
This something has helped him better understand himself as a writer. Hammond told Star, “When ideas come to me now, I understand what to do with the ideas. When I first started I tried to keep everything I wrote. But now I’m able to get rid of things a lot easier.”
Yours to Keep also puts Hammond in the spotlight as a front man. In the Strokes he’s the guitarist, but here he’s the main guy. A factor that brought on some fear in the beginning. “Usually I’ve sang by myself in my room, then I was upfront,” he said, “Throughout the record I built up more confidence. I got more used to it.”
Hammond seems incredibly humbled by everything that’s been happening since the album’s release overseas last fall and its American release on March 6. All the fame and accolades aside, Hammond is really just a regular guy. “I haven’t had time to gather it all up and process everything that’s been happening to me. But, it changes the way I write,” he added, “It changes the way I see the world.”
— Jocelyn Vena
