Indie Folk from Esteban Obando

Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist Esteban Obando deliberately eschews excess in favour of limitations, embracing the imperfections of analogue recording as a way of capturing something more truthful. Drawing on a life that stretches from his Colombian origins through to years in Montreal before settling on the American West Coast, Esteban crafts an intimate sound that feels completely untouched by modern stylings.

Writing, performing, recording and producing everything himself, he allows real emotions to become the defining feature of his work. That ethos even extends to the equipment itself, with Esteban recording directly onto a 1990s Tascam Portastudio 424mk1, the same four-track cassette recorder used by Elliott Smith on Roman Candle. The restrictions of tape are not obstacles but creative tools and as a new father balancing music alongside family life, that style has become even more meaningful, transforming limited time and resources into a unique artistic voice.

His debut single, “Montreal (Feeling it All),” unveils that world while acting as the opening chapter of his upcoming debut full-length album, Tiny Pieces of Tape vol.1. While thematically revisiting a city, the track also becomes a meditation on memory itself, exploring the emotions, experiences and nostalgia connected to the years he spent living in Montreal. It’s a highly personal reflection that still leaves enough space for listeners to connect their own memories to its atmosphere.

Captured during a single afternoon inside his Los Angeles studio, the song was created using only a Shure Beta 57 microphone, a Fender Telecaster and a Nord Electro keyboard, all recorded directly onto tape. Within that lo-fi setting, he crafts a delicate indie folk sound brimming with intricate instrumentation and charming vocal performance which leans into a subtle pop vibes. Preserving the fragile emotional qualities that might otherwise disappear beneath endless revisions, even the faint bleed of a drum machine metronome remains present within the finished recording, becoming part of the character as opposed to something to erase.

After counting in the song, the soft strums of acoustic guitar ushers in his smooth vocal leads as he spins tender melodies carrying heartfelt, picture painting lyricism. The elegant flutter of piano notes adds gentle sonic hues to the arrangement as his mellow vocal performance glides above, resulting in a memorable and thoroughly meaningful musical moment that’s impossible not to love. Influences including Phoebe Bridgers, Sufjan Stevens, José González and Adrianne Lenker may echo through his sound, but Esteban presents something truly original with his first outing.

With “Montreal (Feeling it All),” Esteban Obando introduces an artistic vision where every creative decision, from recording entirely to tape to performing every instrument himself, combines to deliver an engaging musical experience. As the first window into Tiny Pieces of Tape vol.1, the single sees Esteban Obando make a compelling entrance as a must watch singer-songwriter with a delightful and original musical offering.

Listen to Montreal (Feeling it All) below

More from Music

---

Editor Picks

---