Preloved’s Debut Album Willow Was Recorded Alone in Ontario’s Provincial Parks

Michael (Miki) Watson has been a quiet force in Ottawa’s fanclubwallet, the band that grew from Hannah Judge’s solo project into a full group. Now Watson is releasing music under the name Preloved, and the debut album Willow comes from a place most records don’t. Watson wrote, played, recorded, mixed, and mastered it alone on a series of camping trips through Ontario Provincial Parks, using a borrowed portable battery.

The songs are spare acoustic pieces collected over roughly three years. They carry the texture of their origins, made far from any studio. Judge co-writes and appears on a few tracks, including the lead single “Motorcycle,” but the album is otherwise a solitary document.

“Motorcycle” is a short, lo-fi track about wanting a dirtbike as some kind of fix for everything. Watson describes it as the lighter side of a particular stretch of life. “Last spring, I really wanted a dirtbike, and there was just no way I could afford one or even begin to entertain the idea. So I wrote a song with my partner Hannah about it instead,” they say. The video places the song in a carnival setting, matching the song’s offhand charm with a fittingly low-key visual.

Willow lands July 31 on Lauren Records. The tracklist includes “R2R (Quits),” “Granite Hill,” “Mile 11,” and the title track, among others. It’s an album that didn’t need a room full of gear, just time outside and a clear reason to make it.