Out on Friday: Sam Phillips' 'World on Sticks'

Sam Phillips scored a top 30 alt-rock hit in 1989 with "Holding on to the Earth," off "The Indescribable Wow," which was produced by ex-husband T Bone Burnett. In 2016, her tune "Reflecting Light" also made inroads.

Now, the veteran is back with 10th studio album, World on Sticks, made in between creating music for television (Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life for Netflix and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel for Amazon).

Musicians Jay Bellerose (drums), Jennifer Condos (bass), and Eric Gorfain (multi-instrumentalist/arranger) were joined by special guests Jon Brion (bass/guitar), Chris Bruce (guitar) and The Section Quartet (strings).

"Troubles on the outside can be reflections of troubles on the inside. We hand big business and big tech the keys when we accept their definitions and dreams of the good life, of beauty, of success, instead of creating our own. As I wrote these songs I wanted to look at our lost connections...with nature, with mystery, with other humans and parts of ourselves," Phillips explains.

"Watching a tree suffer through the California drought last summer made me feel for him. I wondered if it was painful or difficult for him to sprout leaves in the spring after such a dry year. I spent a few minutes with him every day. As I was standing in front of him, the words 'Walking Tree' popped into my head. I imagined this was his name for me...a name that reached out with empathy for my conflicting desires to be both rooted and free. Maybe he felt for me because of my short life and fast-spinning mind...not taking enough time to realize that I'm here to be a loving part of all this," she says.

Harm done to the environment is a reoccurring concern throughout the album. "American Landfill Kings" was written after Phillips' father died and she was cleaning out his home.

"At the end of my dad's life, his dementia manifested itself as hoarding and chaos where he lived. If one person in a small place could leave behind so much unwanted, unusable stuff, how much more trash are the rest of us assembling in our lives? This is deeply affecting the way I look at owning and collecting things. I don't want to leave behind another American landfill when my time on the planet is up," states Phillips.

In a video for the single "How Much Is Enough", Sam collaborated with writer/director Dave Rygalski (former writer for both David Letterman and Jay Leno) stringing together jittery film clips of word and picture collages she made using vintage album covers. Phillips calls the agitated footage "jittervids" and Rygalski set them to the song's sly question.

Produced by Sam Phillips

Recorded and mixed by Eric Gorfain

All songs written by Sam Phillips, except "World on Sticks", "I Want to Be You" and "Continuous Limit" written by Sam Phillips and Jay Bellerose

Track listing:

1. Walking Trees

2. World on Sticks
3. Tears in the Ground
4. American Landfill Kings
5. How Much Is Enough
6. Different Shades of Light
7. I Want to Be You
8. Roll em
9. Teilhard
10.Continuous Limit
11.Candles and Stars