There’s something tactile about the myriad shades of gray draped over the Northwest skyline. They generate an atmosphere that frequently seeps into the music coming from this region.
Sarah Feinberg’s voice is a distinctive sound that just feels like this part of the world. It’s a dusky instrument that captures all of the surging layers, and all of the unadorned beauty, of this area’s cloud cover. And it’s tailor-made for the haunted, lovely songs the Everett-based singer/musician’s crafted for her solo project Sylvi. Artist Home is proud to premiere “Prefixed Image,” Sylvi’s first single, here.
Feinberg’s established herself over the last few years fronting Everett, WA band TELLERS and guest-singing for TELLERS bandmate Bryan Bradley’s electronic project I Will Keep Your Ghost. And Sylvi definitely shares some of TELLERS’ nuance, with Feinberg’s voice serving as a powerful signifier. But this solo work also boasts a nighttime vibe that’s its own nocturnal animal.
“Prefixed Image” finds Feinberg’s voice, Andrew Dorsett’s drums, and co-producer Karl Blau’s bass moving through a spare, almost funky groove. The tinge of echo on Feinberg’s singing, and the slightly ragged tempo of the music, casts a noir-ish shadow over things. It’s the sound of walking along a rain-slicked Seattle street, late at night when things are feeling their most heady.
Flashes of ragged guitar feedback and insistent synth stings add texture, like specific memories—welcome or otherwise—bursting through that contemplative headspace. The end result is a dark gem of a song—as haunting and strangely sensual as anything you’re likely to hear all year.
The track’s part of a five-song EP, due out by Sylvi later this year. As far as we’re concerned, it can’t come soon enough.
