High in Place: Vinyl LP

Includes digital download code.When EZTV lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Ezra Tenenbaum
sings, “Facedown on the concrete, While I dream of wider streets” on
‘States Of Confusion’ you can hear weariness in his voice and a touch
of wistful ‘what if’ longing for more room, a little less hassle, a few
more trees… maybe even a garage to park the 8-track machine.The shining ‘High Flying Faith’ – the first song written for the album –
is a refutation of urban weariness, its title perhaps acting as a
makeshift motto for the optimism (and stubbornness) that is key to
New York bands like EZTV. Inspired by the lyrics of ‘Broken Heart’ by
Skip Spence, it’s a 12-string-propelled nugget that best shows how
EZTV operate: toeing the line between past and present, with a keen
ear for left-of-the-dial experimentation that never lets the songs hew
too far into pastiche and genre nostalgia.Many of the band’s foundational inspirations – the Feelies’ upstart
jangle, the upside-down pop architecture of Arthur Russell’s power
pop band The Necessaries, Shoes’ aching harmonies – are back in
play on ‘High In Place’, their sophomore album, though new
instruments and feels abound throughout. Produced and engineered
by the band themselves, a baby grand piano rings and 12-string
acoustic guitars shimmer throughout the album, recalling the cleareyed
production techniques of Jeff Lynne.Taking advantage of tour stopovers, trips to attend weddings, or
even just commandeering someone’s vacation for a few days, EZTV
invited some likeminds and fellow songwriters into the studio – Jenny
Lewis, Chris Cohen, Martin Courtney and Matt Kallman of Real Estate,
John Andrews of Quilt, Nic Hessler and Mega Bog – to guest on ‘High
In Place’.Aptly recorded on a tape machine purchased from a Lower East Side
Studio that was going out of business, in a space where the New
York City skyline both loomed and inspired through its glass
windows, ‘High In Place’ is an album of golden pop songs worthy of
any era.Tracklist: