Back in May 1998, Pete Yorn recorded what was to be his debut album, thenightbefore, with producer Don Fleming. The album was recorded over the course of a week in New York City with Yorn playing all of the instruments. Virgin Records was interested in releasing the album, but wanted to rework the entire second half of the record; which Yorn refused to do. Shortly thereafter, Yorn returned to California and befriended R. Walt Vincent at a Sloan concert. Vincent introduced Yorn to digital recording and encouraged him to move away from the "alt-country feel" that his original recordings had.
After that, Yorn and Vincent recorded Musicforthemorningafter throughout 1999 in Vincent's garage, after signing with Columbia Records, the label offered a slew of "super well-known producers" to work on their material, but Yorn declined. However, Yorn and Vincent later brought in Brad Wood to help "clean up and tie the room together." Ken Andrews, of the alternative rock band Failure, performed on and produced the album's sixth track "For Nancy ('Cos It Already Is)", while "Simonize" was the only holdover from the Fleming sessions in 1998.
The end resulted of Yorn's unfettered ambition is an undeniably self-assured mélange of rock, folk, and pop, with electronic flourishes and insanely catchy hooks throughout. A raspy yet lucid vocalist, even Yorn would likely agreed that he was not the most technically gifted singer by any stretch of the imagination. But his unique phrasing, yearning emotiveness, and unmistakable sincerity more than make up for it, with his evocative lyricism arguably his greatest asset.
With zero filler material across musicforthemorningafter's fourteen tracks, was a daunting task to identify the handful of standout songs. Album opener and lead single "Life on a Chain" had a great use of filtered vocal effects that gave to blasts of infectious, guitar-driven melodies, as Yorn examined finding redemption from the disenchantment of a stunted marriage. The percussive, harmonica-blessed "Strange Condition" followed, as Yorn outlines the fragility of his tortured soul, as he pines for the elusive object of his affection. The uptempo stormer "For Nancy (‘Cos It Already Is)" was loosely inspired by Yorn finding the name Nancy scratched on the back of an old guitar he stumbled upon. More broadly, it can be interpreted as a grass-is-always-greener themed ode to appreciating the love that’s right in front of you and acknowledging that something (or someone) better may not exist after all.
A trio of more subdued compositions also represented notable highlights. The album's most memorable chorus ("You were lying wide awake in the garden / Trying to get over your stardom"), the stripped-down "Just Another" is a hazy daydream of a song built around Yorn's proven penchant for conversational intimacy, as he relegates a past love to the status of "just another girl." The introspective, gorgeously executed "On Your Side" was a stirring exploration of trying to heal the wounds of a fractured relationship, followed by the equally exquisite depiction of co-dependence, "Sleep Better." And the shimmering, acoustic-guitar fueled pop of "Sense" rose to the top. The song showcased Yorn at his confessional best, as he lamented the futile exercise of trying to change an obstinate lover who fails to reciprocate the energy and hope he has invested in her.
