PREMIERE | Silverware, "No Expectations"
Posted & posing at the corner of the 500 Club with Ainsley Wagoner of Silverware; photographed by Marisa Bazan.
As creatives what do we do with the high praise from others? What do we do with the constructive notes from others? How do the external observations and perceptions from others impact our own respective visions and methodologies? The outside pressures from others are always something to negotiate in our lives and especially as it pertains to our own talents and work. The world as a whole places a certain criteria of standards and customs that more often than not must be adhered to in order to get by. We work, we punch the clock, we dream big, we take cues and lessons from the heroes and villains that have graced this earth before us and learn from these examples what we want and don’t want for ourselves. The crux of the creative spirit is what we impart to the world from within and the inspirations we mirror from the world that we also want to reflect in our craft. Forever figuring out what is relevant to us, what applies, and how our own processes are influenced from our surrounding audiences and communities.
These are some of the thoughts and feelings woven into Silverware’s expressive and earnest new song “No Expectations”, featured off the upcoming album One True Light for Ghost Mountain Records. The vision of SF by way of Lexington artist Ainsley Wagoner, the track sparkles with a suave serenity that emanates sophisti-pop styles and sounds like the light that passes through the most illustrious gems. Working with Omar Akrouche on the follow-up to 2021’s No Plans, Ainsley casts off the cares and diversions of the world with a sense of resolve, determination, and mindfulness. Joined by a chanting chorus of fellow Bay Area luminaries like Asha Wells, Sarah Simon, Simi Sohota, Taylor Giffin, Tom Smith, and more — Silverware’s lavish creative developments that have been over two years in the making stand as some of the most beautiful and breezy music to compliment the omnipresent San Francisco summer fog.
Gently rolling beginning with cascading piano keys, Ainsley melds melodies and understated rhythms that ride with the wind on the wings of thoughtful happenstance. The rich productions and evocative mix provides a pensive pop novella on the nature of compliments and the ethereal escape of abandoning the impositions put upon by others with even the best of intentions. “No Expectations” is a song about marching to the beat of your own drum, a song about singing the songs you want to sing, employing the notes that resonate with you, discovering where the creative adventure takes you, and making the art that speaks to you above all else. Silverware creates a pop standard that edifies the artist as having the authorial authority and ownership of their own process amid the crowds of fans and critics alike.
“No Expectations” is reclamation of one’s own art in the age of idle armchair chatter that eschews the accolades and suggestions in the name of exalting the authentic article. The track’s apex replete with shouted recitations of the title moves upward into the new heights. A place where one’s art can grow far beyond the redundant comment section choruses of the world that allows new creative forms to develop, thrive, and shine with a light to glow like a blazing sun for all seasons. “No Expectations” explores something beyond the cyclical reactionary hermeneutics that returns the conversation to the artist and their voice that is undeterred and undisturbed by the praise, pomp, and criticism and edifies the work above all else (predicated upon its own merits).
Ainsley Wagoner styling in summer ready shades; photographed by Marisa Bazan.
Silverware’s Ainsley Wagoner provided some meditations on the nature of expectations, the new song, and more:
“No Expectations” is about the dissonance of receiving praise you both want and don't want to believe — because believing would make the indifference and rejection of normal life so much harder to navigate. It’s about the whiplash of a creative self — in some contexts you feel brilliant, in others you feel hopelessly mediocre.
This song took me a long time to write. It refused to be rushed, and demanded to have dramatic piano asides. I wrote it top to bottom and listened along the way to what the song wanted next. Sometimes I couldn’t tell or was surprised at how complicated it wanted to be. It took months! But once I brought it into the studio (initially with Danielle Goldsmith at Tiny Telephone in Oakland and then with Omar Akrouche at Somerset Classic in LA) it felt fully formed and was so much fun to record.
In the spotlight with Silverware’s Ainsley Wagoner; photographed by Marisa Bazan.
There are so many great performances on this song including drums by Taylor Giffin, bass and rubber bridge guitar by Omar Akrouche, harmonies by Asha Wells and Sarah Simon, electric guitar by Tom Smith, and the shout (cheer?) chorus at the end featuring all the above collaborators plus Simi Sohota.
The song started in my practice space writing a repetitive drum beat over which I began chanting: No! Expec! Ta! Tions! Since “No Expectations” is a hopes-raised-and-dashed narrative, I wanted the instrumentation to be upbeat and bubbly in contrast. For that, we added a bouncy rubber bridge guitar, punchy bass line, and clean grand piano.
For the vocals, we were inspired by the dynamic performances of Judee Sill, as well as Mitski’s intimate, dry delivery — so we used a vintage TV-presenter microphone to achieve a dramatic-but-confessional sound, for an overall 80s-art-pop-meets-90s-adult-contemporary production.
Silverware’s new album One True Light arrives August 30 via Ghost Mountain Records.
Cover art for Silverware’s album One True Light.