Portland-based musician Erisy Watt announces her sophomore album Eyes like the Ocean to be released April 1 on American Standard Time Records. Recorded live-to-tape and produced by Y La Bamba’s Ryan Oxford, this is the highly anticipated follow-up to Erisy’s 2019 debut which earned her support slots for John Craigie, Hurray For The Riff Raff, Dustbowl Revival, and more.

“New Same” is a softly celestial salve for the emotional beginnings of a new year. Erisy wrote it in a moment of intense introspection. She shares: “I was reflecting on habits, trying to break the old and shape the new, and I was feeling stuck. We all want to blossom into the best versions of ourselves and often forget that it takes time, that it’s never a linear path. Old voices linger. Old behaviors crop up. I’m learning that it’s not so much about getting rid of those things completely but being able to name them when they do appear. ‘New Same’ is about acceptance, about shifting vantage points, about leaning in and letting go.”

Erisy’s sound alludes to ’60s icons, but finds an easy home in the vintage-tinged indie ether of Bedouine, Haley Heynderickx, or Julie Byrne. Her vocals are intimate and alluring, an artful alternation between soothing whispers and gentle howls, backed by an instrumental bigness that evokes windy mountainscapes and piercing blue skies. Throughout her new album, she calls upon the expanse of earth and sky to navigate life as an adult woman—satiating restlessness, finding connection, and fostering that ever elusive sense of self that allows one peace.

Photo Courtesy: Hannah Garrett