Virtuoso guitarist and songwriter Wendy Eisenberg has announced their new self-titled album, Wendy Eisenberg, arriving April 3 via Joyful Noise Recordings. The announcement is marked by the release of the lead single “Meaning Business,” a track that begins with inquisitive, searching chords before blooming into a work of baroque-pop grandeur. Written in honour of David Lynch just days after his passing, the song serves as a profound meditation on trauma and the “hallucinatory” process of recovery—a theme Eisenberg connects directly to the surrealist horror of the Twin Peaks universe.
Eisenberg says: “I loved his work dearly, especially Twin Peaks/Fire Walk With Me/The Return, which is an especially important work to me and so many other people who have experienced sexual assault. Recovery from the trauma of that particular horror is a hallucinatory and psychedelic process because you’re reckoning with true horror – basically, the thesis of the Twin Peaks universe. This song sees me trying to find the little kid who I was, who endured that horror, and ultimately trying to free her from being trapped in that memory (‘Find Laura’).”
Stream: https://wendyeisenberg.lnk.to/business
This upcoming record represents a creative milestone for the Brooklyn-based artist, following a decade of genre-spanning work that has seen them move between art-rock, jazz, and free improvisation. While their 2024 double-album Viewfinder was a celebrated free-jazz odyssey, this new collection leans into a pastoral, folk-driven clarity inspired by practitioners like Judee Sill, John Prine, and Joanna Newsom. Eisenberg describes the production as an acceptance of the “inherent strangeness” of the guitar rather than a technical wrestling match with it.
The songs on Wendy Eisenberg were forged during a period of intense personal reckoning between 2023 and 2024, a time the artist likens to an “exorcism.” “I had this weird, semi-mystical experience,” Eisenberg says. “I remember walking around for hours alone, having given up on some kind of straight love, straight performance. Much of what I thought I wanted felt totally irrelevant. The part of me that felt like I had to be legible to appease imaginary people finally needed to die.”
This shift toward self-understanding and relief is reflected in the album’s warm, ensemble texture, recorded with a tight-knit circle of collaborators including bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer Ryan Sawyer, and co-producer Mari Rubio (more eaze). Now a full-time assistant professor of songwriting, Eisenberg describes their new voice as “slightly more spacious,” resulting in songs that they say “honestly just emerged, miraculously.”
Eisenberg will be supporting the release with a steady touring schedule, featuring dates alongside Peaer, Bad History Month, and Richard Dawson, as well as co-headlining album release shows with more eaze this April.
Pre-Order: https://wendyeisenberg.lnk.to/wendy
Tour Dates
January 22 @ Roulette – Brooklyn, NY
January 24 @ 22 Peck Slip – New York, NY~
January 30 @ Night Club 101 – New York, NY^
March 25 @ Le Poisson Rouge – New York, NY*
April 1 @ Constellation – Chicago, IL*
April 15 @ TV Eye – Ridgewood, NY #
April 16 @ Johnny Brendas – Philadelphia, PA #
^ w/ Peaer
~ w/ Bad History Month
* w/ Rich(ard) Dawson
# w/ more eaze