Eli Winter returns on August 21st with his new album Unbecoming via American Dreams Records. This week (July 23rd) sees the release of album single and animated music video “Maroon” (animated by Haylie Jimenez) which we have the pleasure of premiering below.
“Maroon” is a blossoming, joyous song marking Winter’s first time leading a band, featuring Sam Wagster (American Dreams band Mute Duo) on pedal steel guitar, Tyler Damon (Circuit Des Yeux) on drums, and Cameron Knowler on nylon string guitar.
Of the track, Eli tells us:
When I first drafted this song four years ago I thought of it as a solo piece, but as I cycled through contrived middle sections to find one that felt my own, I realized it needed a group. Enter Tyler, Cameron and Sam, who have developed singular approaches to their instruments largely through different contexts of improvising: Tyler through freely improvised music, Cameron through deep study of bluegrass, oldtime and adjacent traditions, and Sam through experimental theatre. By chance, when we recorded the song, Sam, Tyler and I had never played it as a group, and Cameron had agreed to record from Houston after the fact, each working on scant instruction amounting to “do what feels right.” The result, I think, is a song fluid and tightly structured, one where each note is in service to the one before it, one whose distinct instrumental layers merge into an evocative whole.
Eli made a little bit of a splash last year when he released his debut The Time to Come, particularly because he was profiled by The Guardian’s Laura Snapes, and was chosen as 1 of 50 artists to watch in 2020. He also left a great impression at Folk Radio where his album was reviewed by Glenn Kimpton in which he suggested Winter leans slightly further away from the Takoma mould and more towards the Windham Hill recordings. “Indeed, there are hints of William Tyler‘s Goes West in here alongside William Ackerman and Jack Rose.”
He concludes: “…Eli as a talent far beyond his years and a guitar player to watch; if this set is any indication, there will be many more great things to come from Mr Winter.”
That’s a truth…
Pre-Order Unbecoming via Bandcamp: https://eliwinter.bandcamp.com/album/unbecoming-2
Photo Credit: Gabriel Barron