Jeremy Bradley Earl :: “Four Songs” - Woodsist
Art: Shon Mahoney
Photo: Harper Cowan
Whether he’s leading the harmonious habitat of the long-running psych-folk outfit Woods, the impeccable imprint Woodsist, or the yearly festival that takes place in Accord every September, New York-based musician, visual artist, and all-around guru of the visceral vibe, Jeremy Bradley Earl has been carefully honing in on his craft while perfecting its prolific poetry for well over two decades. Alongside bandmate and close friend Jarvis Taveniere, the duo occupied previous projects such as Sheryl's Magnetic Aura, Meneguar, and Shepherds before sonically settling on Woods, which has seen an iconic influx of members like Kevin Morby and The Vanishing Voice’s Gabriel Lucas Crane over the years. Based on atmospheric alchemy and all-around activeness that never seems to rest, Earl is a fundamental force in independent music, as his overall output has been regarded as one of the greatest gestures into the void of his generation. The veteran musician steps into the liberating light alone for the first time in his cosmic career for his most recent effort entitled “Four Songs,” which completely captures the eager essence of a busy body of creative contemplation in a world filled with self-indulgent sacrifice, and prophetic paralysis. Conquering the calm waves of mutilation, melody, and all-purpose peace, Earl bravely delivers an epic EP filled with harmonious hope, shadowy songwriting, and blue-collar contemplation on the human psyche.
Photo: Harper Cowan
Exploring the deep dark depths of eager expeditions into earth-riddle caverns filled with ancient air and cold creatures, the EP bitterly breathes life into the melodic memory of the late and great Ed Askew, who Earl knew for many years, with his infamous track “Deep Water.” A delicate dedication to the legend as he rests on the other side of the mysterious Bardo, the rest of the album features numbers “Days Turn Around,” “I Know A Better Place,” and its serenading single “Let The Snow Fall,” which falls silently on the singing skulls from a winter that is both powerful and chillingly complex. Occupying a voice and atmospheric aesthetic as iconic as his contemporaries, such as James Jackson Toth (Wooden Wand), Keith Wood (Hush Arbors), and the New Weird America that set fire to the country’s collective consciousness, “Four Songs,” breaks into the lyrical library of eccentric emotion, and robust rhythms that, like most of Earl’s work, uplifts the severed soul and places it high above on a shelf of contemplation, and tender temptation like nothing before. Joined by Sam Cohen and Kyle Forester, the EP’s internal temperature is trepidatious and radical as the weather of the music morphs into this fevered folk dream where land meets sky in the most captivating way possible. While holding a fundamental flame to the seemingly never-ending terror of the world, Earl’s music, whether in Woods or, in this rare case, solo, creates a sophisticated safety net for his listeners to periodically ponder a reality filled with less chaos and more cosmic connection to the bigger picture.
While a new album safely implies that a tour is to follow, this also makes the veteran’s first solo run, and one to boot as he’ll be hitting the land of asphalt with the legendary multi-dimensional cadet of song and esoteric entanglement, the great Daniel Higgs (Lungfish/Fountainsun). Set for release in late March on the Woodsist imprint, “Four Songs” is exactly what we all need as we take heed into the spring and summer with open hearts and clenched fists of righteous rage. A tonal tornado of historic proportion, if you are lucky enough to catch them on this ten-day run, Earl and Higgs, is guaranteed to bring galactic peace to the minds and eyes of their audience with sonic spells and ritualistic rhythms from the finest order.
