Jeffrey Silverstein has signed to UK label Full Time Hobby, marking the move with new single Coming Back Around. Last covered on KLOF for his 2023 Arrowhawk album Western Sky Music, the Portland, Oregon-based songwriter sits at an intersection the press release describes as loner-folk, cosmic country and kraut-laden choogle. Where his recent releases saw him observing his adopted Pacific Northwest and finding his footing in the alt-Americana scene he unexpectedly fell into, Coming Back Around finds him immovable, intentional, and most of all, at peace.
Silverstein describes the song as a deliberate departure from his usual writing process. “I don’t often write with someone or something specific in mind. This song was an active attempt to challenge my process. I had a movie playing in my head before the music and lyrics were fully formed. It goes as follows: someone, for uncertain circumstances, has to move back to their childhood city. It’s not exactly something they want to do, but have to. There is comfort there (‘the door is always open and the beer is always cold’) but something just doesn’t sit right. They reconnect with said place, make their peace with it, and press on (‘but you’re compelled to move, chase a never-ending groove’). I suppose you could say it’s about things coming full circle.”
The track was recorded at Portland’s Center for Sound, Light and Color Therapy with producer Ryan Oxford (Y La Bamba, Rose City Band), bassist Alex Chapman, and drummer Dana Buoy (Akron/Family), and mastered by Amy Dragon (Big Thief, Nathaniel Rateliff, Moon Duo). Watch the accompanying video by Eric Loeffler.
Stream: https://jeffreysilverstein.ffm.to/comingbackaround
Alongside his music, Silverstein works as a special education teacher, journalist and vinyl DJ around the Pacific Northwest. He heads to the UK and Sweden this summer for co-headline dates with Bobby Lee, following past US runs alongside Steve Gunn, William Tyler, Rose City Band and Widowspeak.