Last Year’s Man is the pseudonym of Eugene, OR-based producer, and songwriter, Tyler Fortier. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Fortier’s music has been featured on networks like CBS, Netflix, Showtime and the BBC. He has contributed music to libraries like Warner Chappell, BMG, and Marmoset. As a producer, Fortier’s passion is working with up-and-coming artists, including Jeffrey Martin, Anna Tivel, Beth Wood, Philippe Bronchtein, and Jeff Crosby. In total, Fortier has been involved with over 40 projects as a producer, mix engineer, or session player — and usually, all of the above. Last Year’s Man debut album Brave the Storm was released November 13th, 2020.
Glide is premiering the new single “Wildflower in the Desert” with an accompanying lyric video (below). With the lush and languid touch of Iron & Wine mixed atop colorful sound spectrums of Jason Lytle, Last Year’s Man paints an interlocking dreamscape of lyrically swept composition..
Fortier produced, mixed, and played all the instruments on the track which also features his wife Erin Flood Fortier on backing vocals Fortier says he wrote the song for his children Levon and Gram, ages 6 and 3 years respectively. Fortier brings an introspective and pure tonal delicate delivery to our ears.
“I have tried to write a handful of these songs for my kids but I can never seem to find the right mood. This song came out of one of those attempts. It’s not all I wanted to say but it doesn’t feel forced in the way some of the other songs felt. It’s my way of saying keep your chin up I guess. Through all the wrong turns and dead ends that everyone inevitably experiences, sometimes all we can do is stand our ground, stay positive, and hopefully learn something. ‘Be the wildflower in the desert/Raise your voice and sing.’ It’s really all right there in the hook.”
“This is my Wonder Years intro. I sorted through videos of my kids from over the last six years and pieced them together to make a home movie of sorts. I realize this video will probably only feel special for me and my family. I mean, other people’s kids? Yuck. Right? In all seriousness I pretty much cried the whole time I was making this. The song is for my kids and I wanted the video to feel like a home movie. I hope when they are older it is something we can watch and reflect on,” says Fortier.
