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Where to Start With Dear Nora, Your Favorite Indie Rocker’s Favorite Indie Rocker

Katy Davidson of Dear Nora
Katy Davidson of Dear Nora. Photo by Andrea Zittel.

Among the internet’s many evils is (at least) one true blessing: old music that once ran the risk of being lost to time for good now has more of a chance to be plucked from obscurity and resonate with a new generation. Dear Nora is one such project.

Founded in 1999 by Lewis & Clark College classmates Katy Davidson, Marianna Ritchey, and Ryan Wise, Portland’s Dear Nora was originally an indie-pop project in the vein of DIY greats like the Softies, Gaze, and the Aislers Set. As Davidson became the band’s sole driving force, Dear Nora’s musical style changed as well, shifting from speedy pop to atmospheric slow burners. After releasing three LPs and three EPs to underground appreciation, Davidson decided to discontinue Dear Nora in 2008. They spent the next nine years making similarly minded music as Key Losers and Lloyd & Michael, and served as a touring member of Yacht and Gossip.

But just as Dear Nora was coming to an end, the project’s cult following increased exponentially. Three States: Rarities 1997-2007, the career-spanning compilation released in 2008, exposed Davidson’s music to a younger audience. Girlpool’s 2015 debut, Before the World Was Big, included a delicate meditation named after and evoking the project, Joyce Manor cited Dear Nora as a “huge influence” on their 2016 record Cody, and traces of Davidson’s emotional excavation haunt the works of DIY-inclined songwriters like Frankie Cosmos, Mega Bog, and Stephen Steinbrink.

Because of this, Orindal Records reissued Dear Nora’s seminal sophomore album, Mountain Rock, to considerable acclaim last year, and for the first time in nearly a decade, the project hit the road. “I think revisiting Dear Nora is an expression of gratitude,” Davidson told Bandcamp. “Like, ‘thank you, I can’t believe you know these songs and know this band, let’s celebrate this!’” The festivities continue with today’s news that Dear Nora will release a long-awaited fourth record, Skulls Example, this May.

For the uninitiated, here is the story of Dear Nora in 10 songs.

“Make You Smile” (2000)

In the early days, the trio was inspired by the sincere and swift songwriting of Liz Phair and Guided by Voices, whose influences shine through on the opener from Dear Nora’s debut EP. With modest, fuzzy riffs giving way to a twee “ba-ba-ba-ba” chorus, it becomes clear that, like many Pacific Northwest lo-fi greats, Dear Nora found power in ramshackle innocence.

“My Guitar” (2000)

Soon after the release of Make You Smile, Davidson wrote and recorded the eight-song solo acoustic EP Dreaming Out Loud in just 24 hours. On the standout track “My Guitar,” Davidson began exploring ephemerality and corporeality, the themes that would punctuate Dear Nora songs in the years to come. In one particularly poignant line, Davidson declares, “How I want to live is effortless/And all I wanna feel is not distressed/’Cause all I ever need is less and less every day.”

“’Round and ’Round” (2000)

Produced by Amy Linton of indie-pop greats Henry’s Dress and the Aislers Set, Dear Nora’s debut LP, We’ll Have a Time, doubled down on the jangle. “’Round and ’Round,” a musical merry-go-round that relishes in topsy-turviness, is the album’s high point.

“On to September” (2002)

After the release of We’ll Have a Time, Davidson left Portland for San Francisco and began playing solo Dear Nora shows. While We’ll Have a Time was by no means pristine (what would be the fun in that?), Davidson’s home-recorded 2002 EP, The New Year, returned to the straightforward style of Dreaming Out Loud. The nimble strumming of “On to September,” paired with Davidson’s vivid description of the seasons blurring together, results in an ideal pop song for the existential set.

“Hey Tiger” (2003)

The two versions of 2003’s “Hey Tiger” that appear on Three States: Rarities 1997-2007 show Davidson split between opposing musical styles and modes of playing: as a band with Ritchey, Antonio Roman-Alcalá, and Jake Longstreth, or more as an individual. The “early” version is a bouncy love song that concludes with a groovy drum jam. The “late” take is sparse and acoustic, foreshadowing Davidson’s blooming interest in minimalism.

“Sarah, You’re Not for Me” (2003)

“Sarah, You’re Not for Me” is a deep cut that deserves to be celebrated for its intricate three-piece instrumentation and intimate poeticism. Like a combination of both “Hey Tiger” takes, “Sarah” shows Dear Nora’s fondness for pairing quietly profound ruminations against patient musical sprawl. Davidson would soon strip this style of songwriting down to its essence, resulting in their introspective masterwork, Mountain Rock.

“The Lonesome Border, Pt. 1” (2004)

After a long tour in Sweden, Davidson retreated to their birth state of Arizona to process the strange cultural moment taking shape in late 2003, as President Bush charged into Iraq and “Hey Ya” blasted from pop radio. Back in relative isolation, Davidson was able to see the world as both horrifying and gorgeous in its natural innocence—a dichotomy at the heart of Mountain Rock. With this opening song that imagines dread and heartbreak as a massive rock formation, Mountain Rock reaches a place of surreal soul-searching by using nature’s unpredictability to personify human restlessness.

“Hot Boyz” (2005)

Any true Dear Nora stan knows “Hot Boyz” is canon. Originally released on a compilation called Steve’s Bro Zone (and later included on Three States), Davidson and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s Owen Ashworth turned Missy Elliott’s 1999 track about a “hot boy, a rock boy, a fun toy, a Glock boy” into a goofy drum-machine ditty. Like the video of Davidson’s friend Phil Elverum covering Lil Wayne’s “Got Money” at karaoke, “Hot Boyz” remains a thrill that will make you appreciate both the original and Davidson in unexpected ways.

“My Friend and I (For Gretchen)” (2006)

Where Mountain Rock took comfort in the natural world, Dear Nora’s 2006 LP There Is No Home was consumed by feelings of pain and restlessness. On “My Friend and I (For Gretchen),” Davidson recalled a hike with former Dear Nora bassist Gretchen Hildebran that quickly devolved into an anxious inner monologue. “I said ‘I’m doing the exact same thing as I was doing when I was 23,’” Davidson murmurs before launching into a Steely Dan–inspired guitar solo. As if submitting to the psychic rut suggested by “My Friend and I,” Davidson retired the moniker two years after the release of There Is No Home.

“Sunset on Humanity” (2018)

Just as Davidson’s songs have often found beauty and savagery in the natural world, the first Dear Nora single in a decade does something similar with virtual reality. Over a lackadaisical boogie rounded out by new bandmates Zach Burba, Greg Campanile, and Jessica Jones, Davidson sings introspectively of the fake wind in their hair and a horizon that’s stunning but technically fake. In other words, “Sunset on Humanity” is a joyful return to form for Dear Nora—with a thoroughly modern twist.