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{"id":22026,"date":"2018-01-03T17:24:17","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T22:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/?p=22026"},"modified":"2018-08-09T17:04:56","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T21:04:56","slug":"playing-detroit-river-spirit-ep2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/playing-detroit-river-spirit-ep2\/","title":{"rendered":"PLAYING DETROIT: River Spirit Prep Dreamy EP2 for Release"},"content":{"rendered":"

Detroit-based electro indie-pop outfit River Spirit are set to release their second EP, aptly titled EP2,<\/em> on January 5th. The group – comprised of Vanessa Reynolds (vocals and guitar), Dan Steadman (guitar, percussion, and vocals) and Paul Wilcox (drums) \u2013 worked with local engineer and musician Scott Murphy to record a dreamy and uplifting collection of songs. Overarching themes of pleasure, possibility, and perseverance set to ethereal beats and soothing vocals make EP2<\/em> the perfect elixir for ridding yourself of 2017\u2019s bullshit and starting off the new year right. I met up with two-thirds of the band to talk about making the EP, finding beauty in darkness, and what the future has in store for the whimsical trio.<\/p>\n

Tucked in the corner of the Detroit Institute of Art\u2019s Kresge Caf\u00e9, Vanessa Reynolds and Dan Steadman are just as calming and genuine as their music suggests. After almost ten years of playing together, the two friends have found the perfect balance of energy, easily finishing each other\u2019s sentences to paint a broader picture. With both Reynolds and Steadman playing guitar, the same uncanny balance is found in their music. \u201cMe and Dan have been playing together for such a long time, I feel like we\u2019ve built a way of playing where we\u2019re each occupying our own space,\u201d explains Reynolds. The duo\u2019s cohesive playing style can easily be heard in the EP\u2019s opener, \u201cWinter Song,\u201d a relatable track that captures the essence of loneliness and stagnation brought on by winter winds.<\/p>\n

<\/iframe><\/p>\nWhile \u201cWinter Song\u201d leans closer to the side of introspective melancholia, it\u2019s whirling, wind chime outro offers flickers of hope and serves as a smooth transition to the three sanguine songs remaining, mostly focusing on finding joy in yourself and others. In \u201cSet Alight,\u201d Reynolds sings, \u201cYou can open doors with your eyes shut \/ Don\u2019t you realize you are one of a kind.\u201d She explains that the song is meant as a voice of encouragement to a loved one, reminding them to harness their power and not get bogged down by external forces.<\/p>\nThis is a theme that the band intended to portray throughout this body of work. \u201cWe\u2019re all in such turmoil trying to process the things that have been happening these past few years,\u201d says Steadman. \u201cBeing able to enjoy yourself within that is super important.\u201d\u00a0Reynolds agrees, adding that finding joy can sometimes even be an act of rebellion in this day and age. \u201cI feel like it can be kind of radical to be able to stop and just have fun, or rehearse your music, or do the things you love and be happy.\u201d<\/p>\nReynolds\u2019 ability to find the light hasn\u2019t come without her fair share of adversity. \u201cThere was a period where I was kind of homeless and squatting in spots\u2026 it was another time of making possibilities when it feels like there aren\u2019t any,\u201d explains the artist. \u201cAs much as it was hard, I felt a lot of optimism within that and I met a lot of amazing people and had a lot of amazing experiences.\u201d<\/p>\nThe infectious optimism that Reynolds brings to River Spirit seems to have drawn a series of serendipitous events for the band. When Reynolds, a tattoo artist of over eight years, crossed paths with and tattooed Josiah Wise of <a href=\"https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/reviews\/albums\/22333-blisters\/\">serpentwithfeet<\/a>, the band snagged an opening spot on Wise’s tour. Then, the band\u2019s engineer offered to let them trade tattoos for studio time for their forthcoming LP – hard evidence that if you put good vibes into the world, you\u2019ll get them right back.<\/p>\nThe charmed trio has performed with acts like Aldous Harding, Stef Chura, and S (Jen Champion) and plan to spread their wings with shows outside of Detroit in 2018. Until then, look out for River Spirit\u2019s EP2<\/em> on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and Apple Music starting January 5th\u00a0or (if you’re in Detroit) check out the band\u2019s EP release party at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/142451463093794\/\">Third Wave Music<\/a> on January 12th.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Detroit-based electro indie-pop outfit River Spirit are set to release their second EP, aptly titled EP2, on January 5th. The group – comprised of Vanessa Reynolds (vocals and guitar), Dan Steadman (guitar, percussion, and vocals) and Paul Wilcox (drums) \u2013 worked with local engineer and musician Scott Murphy to record a dreamy and uplifting collection […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":22036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6732,4392],"tags":[7120,3732,7119,6217,7121],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/riverspirit-e1515017797737.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22026"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22026"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22037,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22026\/revisions\/22037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.audiofemme.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}