Brooklyn-based songwriter, improviser, and guitarist, Wendy Eisenberg, has shared Old Myth Dying, the latest single from their forthcoming self-titled album, due April 3rd via Joyful Noise Recordings. It follows the well-received Meaning Business with a track that strips back some of their more elaborate instincts in favour of something rawer and more direct.
Eisenberg wrote Old Myth Dying in early 2024 while feverish, channelling the discomfort into a polyrhythmic guitar figure that underpins a vocal performance wound tight with urgency. “I wanted to see if I could do this polyrhythm in my right hand and sing over it,” they explain. “This time, my lyrics came out straightforward and wary, blunter than usual. They revealed a different pain I was feeling, the pain of actually knowing what you can and can’t control, and what inherited myths have been lies designed to control you all along.” That tension — between physical discipline and emotional reckoning — runs through the track with real force.
Wendy Eisenberg takes its cues from classic songwriting practitioners like John Hartford, Gillian Welch, and John Prine, alongside the more wayward folk of Richard Dawson and Joanna Newsom, as well as the orchestral pop-folk of Judee Sill and Van Dyke Parks. It’s a significant pivot toward folk songcraft after a decade of restless genre exploration, and Old Myth Dying makes a compelling case for that shift. The album was recorded with bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer Ryan Sawyer, and co-producer Mari Rubio, who contributes pedal steel, synth, and string arrangements.
Source: klofmag.com