Wendy Eisenberg – Wendy Eisenberg
On their self-titled album, Wendy Eisenberg channels the restless energy of their avant-garde work into something beautiful
Releasing a self-titled record midway through your career takes a particular kind of confidence. After three albums with their experimental rock trio Editrix, tours with Bill Orcutt's Guitar Quartet and a solo discography that spans a multitude of genres, Wendy Eisenberg arrives with a record that bears their own name, and carries the weight of that decision with aplomb.
Produced alongside their partner Mari Rubio (More Eaze), Wendy Eisenberg is ostensibly a folk record, but one that incorporates elements of country, jazz, and free improvisation. Opening track Take a Number establishes the mood immediately, as tremolo guitar lines drift through Rubio's mercurial string arrangements like light through water.
It's Here is the album's emotional centrepiece, in which Eisenberg sings about their relationship with Rubio, her playful tone suggesting a smile suppressed. Old Myth Dying and Curious Bird nod toward the psychedelic folk of Joanna Newsom without tipping into imitation. Meanwhile Will You Dare could pass for a lost Willie Nelson ballad, while Rubio's freewheeling violin solo on Vanity Paradox briefly forgets the country road it rode in on. What unites it all is Eisenberg's ability to roam freely without ever losing the thread – it turns out the confidence was warranted.
Listen to: Old Myth Dying, It’s Here, Vanity Paradox