Those who fell in love with the arresting intensity of Jeff Buckley’s "Grace" should familiarize with Port St. Willow, the brainchild of NYC composer Nicholas Principe. The two artists share a beautifully expressive falsetto and preference for sparse atmospheres, but come from completely different places in terms of musicianship: you’ll rarely hear a plain guitar sound in Port St. Willow, since Principe is a keyboardist/sound designer. His music’s central elements are ambiance, melody and drone. Ghostly new single "Ordinary Pleasure," released on his brand new imprint People Teeth, reinforces this notion – it’s part of a full length entitled "Syncope," to be released in the near future. Written and recorded with a focus on improvisation, the album features guest appearances by Will Epstein (Nicolas Jaar, High Water), Peter Silberman (The Antlers), and David Moore (Bing & Ruth) among others.
Port St. Willow’s debut album earned some praise from none other than legendary producer Brian Eno – check out our 2013 post about it here. You can see the band live at Le Poisson Rouge on 11.17 and at Trans Pecos the day after.