Upcoming EP from Eli Wise

Coming out of the Bay Area, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist Eli Wise has forged his musical vision around the strange beauty of everyday existence. His songs explore the existential questions hiding inside ordinary moments, combining carefully crafted lyrics with melodic guitar playing and a crisp tenor voice, resulting in music that can be emotive without becoming overly solemn, finding humour and warmth in the uncertainty that comes with being human.

A musician from a very young age, he penned songs, played in bands and even released burned CDs of his music for friends. Music was something he understood, a space where he felt in control but after transitioning, that relationship with his own voice changed as Eli stepped away from music for nearly a decade to concentrate on his career as an educator and raising his two children.

Eventually, silence became more difficult to live with than the unknown path of returning and Eli came back to music last year with the singles “Charting Stars” and “The Curve of Chaos,” opening an exciting new chapter in his artistic life. Now that return is set to fully crystallise with Ghosts and Logic, an upcoming three-track EP that turns transformation and the absurdities of modern life into energetic, intricately observed storytelling.

Inspired by Paul Simon, Amanda Palmer and The Shins, Eli works in a space where melody and story are intrinsically linked. His songwriting doesn’t view existential questions with unnecessary heaviness, he finds ways to make them relatable and occasionally lighthearted, allowing the emotional context of his subjects to coalesce with a sense of playfulness.

Ghosts and Logic revolves around the idea that we can become trapped by both our past and our attempts to make sense of everything around us. The EP encourages listeners to put down those ghosts, stop trying to force experience into neat logic and instead exist within the present; transitions are unavoidable, mistakes are part of the process and authenticity can mean accepting that there isn’t always a straightforward explanation for where life takes us. The release arose from the angst he experienced while rediscovering his voice as a trans man and having once felt completely in command of his music, he found himself needing to learn that voice all over again.

The three songs were written during small bursts of time in the little hours of the night, squeezed between the demands of a busy life and capturing those fragments of time became an opportunity to explore inflection points, change and the persistent need to keep creating even when there never seems to be enough space for it.

Opening track “Everyone Goes Through Something Like This, But That Doesn’t Help” turns the modern nightmare of losing all your written work when a computer crashes into an odyssey about disruption and frustration. Set up by flickering acoustic guitar notes and pattering percussion, Eli’s charming vocal performance glides above to spin catchy melodic leads as intricate piano notes add colour to the arrangement, resulting in a buoyant folk pop outing that’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Eli Wise · Everyone Goes Through Something Like This, But That Doesn't Help

Rustling drum patterns and the breezy flutter of guitar rhythms sets up “Out In The Cold,” a delightful folk jam that frames political infighting. The bouncy groove and engaging blend of instrumentation underpins Eli’s expressive vocal performance as he delivers bright hooks while hazy lead guitar textures add a subtle psych-tinged aesthetic to the song, offering another superb showcase of his songwriting flair and performance panache.

Eli Wise · Out In The Cold

Closing the EP with “I Had To Choose,” Eli serves up an anthem about coming into oneself and finding a voice, wrapped up in a playful folk rock outing. Propelled by jumpy percussive energy and lively guitar strums dashed with airy lead notes, Eli’s compelling vocals roll above to offer an infectious musical moment that’s energising, danceable and truly enamouring from start to finish.

Eli Wise · I Had To Choose

The EP was recorded and produced by Nate Salman at Trainyard Studios and Eli’s home studio in Oakland, with Patrick Aguirre on drums, bringing together the intimate circumstances of its creation with a fuller recorded sound. Ghosts and Logic arrives digitally on the 4th of September, followed by a release party on the 18th at Little Hill Lounge in El Cerrito.