NY based guitarist and composer Ezra Feinberg when talking way back in the mid-2000s about the music of his band Citay, was unapologetic about their surprisingly quirky reference points. Feinberg and Citay drew from AOR polish and MOR lushness, new age to pop polarities, without the pretence of needing to conform to what a San Fran psyche band should sound like.
The band folded in 2010 but since then their leader has continued to make singular music that has avoided trend or category. Instrumental at the core with Feinberg’s expressive acoustic guitar as a focal component, it has the same illusive quality as classic era Tortoise records woven with the serene pacing of Sandro Perri’s ‘long songs’. His first solo recording ‘Pentimento and Others’ in 2018 took gentleness and ambience as watchwords while the follow up ‘Recumbent Speech’, two years later, expanded the soundscape with an ensemble approach but maintained the intention to soothe and calm.
The title of Feinberg’s incoming third album ‘Soft Power’ (on the shelves from 31st May via Tonal Union) suggests that his intricate exploration of gentle impact is set to continue. Collaborators once again join Feinberg in this pursuit, harpist Mary Lattimore, Bing & Ruth’s David Moore and experimental drone musician Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, not so much to swell the sound but to share in the spell.
On the first preview track from the album ‘Future Sand’, David Lackner’s flute glides through the tune’s breezy melodic hooks while Feinberg’s trickling guitar patterns tick through a natural, elegant pulse. An instrumental with an unflustered flow, where even the pauses have purpose, gradually blossoms with delicate chimes, sighing synths and a closing twinge of creaking electronics.
“….What starts out like a painting of flowers in a seaside motel turns into a riot of colour and sound” is how Feinberg has described the music he has made for his new album. That’s exactly how Future Sand unfolds and thankfully there will be more of this irresistible ‘Soft Power’ to come.
Pre-order your copy of ‘Soft Power’ by Ezra Feinberg from your local record store or direct from Tonal Union HERE
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