Nate Amos has barely had a moment to pause. NME meets him for a 40 minute conversation inside a Manchester hotel lobby near the end of an extended tour with Water From Your Eyes, the experimental noise pop pair he shares with Rachel Brown, supporting Hayley Williams. The focus today, however, is This Is Lorelei, his power pop venture that is beginning a fresh chapter with second official record ‘The Singer In My Band’.

Its previous release, ‘Box For Buddy, Box For Star’, arrived two years earlier after Amos had spent nearly a decade quietly uploading material to Bandcamp. The record gradually developed a devoted indie following, helped by his friend MJ Lenderman recording his own version of ‘Dancing In The Club’. Amos has since completed Water From Your Eyes album ‘It’s A Beautiful Place’, expanded and heavily expanded editions of ‘Box For Buddy…’, and ‘Holo Boy’, a compilation featuring newly recorded versions of older Lorelei songs. Throughout everything, he has continued touring with both acts.

Amos recognises that his schedule has become difficult to manage. “I’d like for it not to be quite so busy in the future,” he confesses with an awkward smile. “But the amount of attention that Lorelei has gotten has been very unexpected for me, so I’m not surprised that it’s been hectic. It feels like an unplanned child or something. It just happened and all of a sudden I was like, ‘OK, this is gonna be crazy for a while.’”

The effects of constant travel are easy to see. Amos arrives with lengthy hair and a full beard, appearing approachable yet exhausted. Manchester is experiencing intense heat, so he wears a t shirt, sweatpants and Crocs, with headphones and a can of Monster placed on the table. When it is suggested that this relentless pace does not seem natural for him, he laughs in agreement. “I spend most of my time in quiet spaces if I can help it. I like to hang out in the woods.”

The surprise rise of This Is Lorelei has been accompanied by extraordinary critical enthusiasm. Amos is frequently presented as an undiscovered talent finally reaching a wider audience, and the word ‘generational’ has been used. His appeal rests in direct arrangements, memorable melodies, gentle singing and words that can move between emotional depth and sharp humour. A companion covers record included with the expanded ‘Box For Buddy…’ featured established names such as Williams, working through new electronic duo Power Snatch, and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. Current indie favourites including Lenderman, Waxahatchee and Snail Mail also interpreted his work, offering a powerful endorsement from multiple generations of American independent music.

Now 35, Amos spent his childhood in a quiet Vermont town before eventually moving to Chicago. It was there that he created Water From Your Eyes with Rachel Brown, who was his partner at the time, before they both settled in Brooklyn. Music was already part of his family life. His father Bob performs bluegrass and currently shares a duo with Amos’ sister Sarah, while Nate’s earliest experiences as a musician came from playing alongside relatives. “My understanding of what music was, on a very basic level, came from that. And not just the music itself, but the community that tends to exist with folk music is a very different thing than pop music.” Both Bob and Sarah contribute to ‘The Singer In My Band’, with his father playing banjo and his sister providing vocals.

‘The Singer In My Band’ brings Amos nearer to traditional American music than any earlier release. The electronic touches that appeared around ‘Box For Buddy…’ have disappeared, leaving an entirely guitar focused collection. Its wandering arrangements and vocal harmonies often recall classic country material as strongly as indie rock influences such as Alex Chilton and Stephin Merritt. Although Amos finds composing difficult while travelling, many ideas began forming during lengthy drives between concerts. This approach differed greatly from ‘Box For Buddy…’, which was recorded and completed only a few hours after the initial concepts emerged. Taking more time allowed the new songs to develop with greater care and intention.

“One of the things that defines ‘Box For Buddy…’ is that it’s very train-of-thought, and there’s a lot of information being dumped in some of those songs. [I wanted] to follow it up with the limitation of way less words. Half as many words per song. And try to capture a similar emotional punch with less,” he explains. “I was definitely chasing simplicity with this album. I wanted everything to be very exposed – no disguising my voice, no leaning on bells and whistles to make a less interesting song more interesting.”

“The amount of attention that Lorelei has gotten has been very unexpected for me… it feels like an unplanned child or something”

Amos describes the record’s writing as “really personal”, with several songs examining difficult relationships between friends. “They have to do with either keeping a safe distance, or giving yourself to this person totally as a support, and the sometimes complicated aftermath,” he says. Even while drawing from his own experiences, Amos writes with the precision of a narrator who understands how much can be expressed through a few carefully chosen details. The country influenced highlight ‘Watching Heaven Fall’ carries a Dylanesque lyrical quality, while ‘The Kid With The Crown’, which Amos calls the album’s “untied shoelace”, feels especially exposed. Addressing a friend with both criticism and reassurance, he sings: “Buddy, are you mean? Do you dream of un-dreaming your dreams? […] It’s a curse, and it’ll only get worse”.

Accepting a more visible position has required Amos to reconsider how he presents himself through This Is Lorelei. “[In other bands], I’ve always positioned myself as the man behind the curtain or whatever. That was honestly one of the big hurdles to get over with this album, was accepting Lorelei as something that I do publicly,” he says. “If I’d known that [‘Box For Buddy, Box For Star’] was gonna be listened to by as many people as it has, that would have tripped me up.”

That responsibility feels particularly intimidating because music has played such an important role in shaping his own thoughts and experiences. “As someone whose life and thought processes have been very influenced by music that I’ve consumed over my life, the idea of wielding that power freaks me out a little bit. [So] this album has been the process of accepting the job, and exposing myself as much as possible within the album to kind of like, get over the nervousness.” Amos views opening song ‘I Will Eat My Heart In The Morning Light’ as a declaration about sharing imperfect art with an increasingly large audience. “I know there must be better men, but I’m not the kind to hide”, he sings.

Despite the expectations now surrounding him, Amos responds with sincere humility and a lingering sense of disbelief. “I’m not totally sure how this happened or why I’ve been given this opportunity, ‘cause I have known a lot of people throughout my life that I think are really brilliant people with a lot more to say than me. But I will try my best; that’s a promise,” he says. “This album is [saying], ‘OK, I’ll do this with you guys, and thank you for giving me the chance. I won’t let you down’”. After laughing nervously, he adds: “I hope.”

This Is Lorelei will release ‘The Singer In My Band’ through Matador on September 11.