High in Place: Vinyl LP EZTV

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:

1. High Flying Faith
2. Racing Country
3. Reason To Run
4. Clear
5. States Of Confusion
6. Hammock
7. Temporary Gold
8. Still
9. How Long’s It Gonna Be
10. Goodbye Morning