When David Duchovny first decided to mess around with a guitar, the world already knew him as a reputable actor, most likely as Fox Mulder of The X-Files and Hank Moody of Californication. First perfecting "Yoshimi Batles the Pink Robots" by the Flaming Lips and then applying his long-time fondness and practice with poetry, Duchovny had enough material and completed demos to compose an LP of 12 songs.
Although the LP, titled Hell or Highwater, will see its release on May 12, the seven minute song inspired by Bob Dylan's Chrysler advertisement, "Positively Madison Avenue," is currently streaming online.
"It's a song I wrote after watching the Super Bowl a couple years ago," Duchovny told Rolling Stone. "I was kind of disgusted by the commercialism that my kids were being subjected to and that I was a part of. I love Bob Dylan and I think he can do whatever he wants - he's a treasure and a great man, he was just a convenient symbol for what I was feeling that day."
The actor-turned-singer remembers specific feelings associated with the opening verse of the song, "Jokerman takes off his mask/Reveals a car salesman at last," he sung. "Says, 'Grow up son, you know it's just a masquerade/Now be a good boy and get me and the boss a Gatorade.'"
Duchovny seemed to be uneasy in response to the constant growth of social media and wrote lyrics chock-full with symbolism and simulated communication. "I was following Gandhi on the Twitter/He tweeted, 'Son, I don't like to see you bitter/But if you wanna get in this kinda shape/Well, it's abstinence and a protein shake.'"
According to NME, Duchovny compared his album to the musical stylings of Wilco and R.E.M. Hell or Highwater released via ThinkSay Records can be pre-ordered here. "Positively Madison Avenue" doesn't stand alone within the theme of disappointment and criticisms but in this track, Duchovny place some of the blame on himself, "I really shouldn't be throwin' stones," he admits on the track's final verse. "'Cause chasin' spooks on Fox I made my bones."
