Song of the Day: David Kilgour “Shivering”

“Shivering” is a minor key anthem penned by New Zealand underground music royalty, David Kilgour. Kilgour is best known as the singer/ guitarist and occasional songwriter for the seminal Kiwi group, The Clean. “Shivering” was taken from his self-titled solo debut during a period when The Clean were on one of their periodic hiatus. Kilgour has a real knack for writing songs that possess a certain hazy vulnerability, and that really comes across on “Shivering”. The song begins with a gentle guitar figure before the drums and vocals drop in. The song lyrically deals with themes of aging, escape and return. Listening to David Kilgour solo (and to The Clean) you can really see where Kilgour was both influential on the future of indie music and what his influences were. The feedback drenched, chord-based guitar solo that comes in about halfway through the song is pure Velvet Underground. Kilgour‘s songs have a certain wistfulness about them that always gets them to stick with me. His lyrical and musical wanderlust is infectious.

David Kilgour was born in Ranfury, New Zealand. He and his brother drummer Hamish Kilgour would both take an early interest in music. Together, with their friend Robert Scott, the trio would form the seminal Kiwi indie rock act, The Clean in 1978. While The Clean always seem to reform to periodically tour or record, all three members of the group have pursued solo work as well. David has recorded both under his own name and as part of the band, David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights. Whether with one of his solo projects, or especially with The Clean, Kilgour is an incredible and intimate live act. I highly recommend checking him out if you ever have the opportunity. Both The Clean and Kilgour solo have played the 9:30 Club here in DC a number of times.