Chet “JR” White, the bassist and producer best known for his work in the band Girls, died in October 2020 at age 40. Prior to his death, he produced California singer-songwriter Lia Ices’ Family Album, which was released on Friday (January 29) via Natural Music. Listen to the new album below.
“Experiencing JR’s creative genius so intimately is a gift I will always cherish and I’m so grateful my songs were touched by his magic,” Ices said in a statement. “This album means something different to me now that the person I made it with is gone—it is a symbolic reminder that music is eternal, he lives forever in this album.”
Family Album is Ices’ first new album since 2014’s Ices. It was written while she was pregnant and recorded the album with White in L.A., San Francisco, and Stinson Beach studios. “There’s a clarity to the album,” she said in a statement. “You can hear what I’m saying, you can hear what the instruments are doing. But I really think that because the production supports the ethos you can dive in even deeper.”