Eli Lev Weaves Ancestral Echoes into Lyrical Gold on Introspective Folk EP Past Lives
A cracked heirloom locket sometimes holds more gravity than a marble monument — Eli Lev’s Past Lives EP Project, set to be released on October 8th, opens that locket and lets its contents sing. This five-track Acoustic Folk tableau turns oral history into melody, threading ancestral recollections through Lev’s versatile tenor until memory itself feels percussive.
Musicality & Arrangement
Lev favors a supple fusion—finger-picked guitars, hushed kick drums, faint synth halos—where every instrument seems to nod politely to the sampled elders in the room. Indeed, producer Taylor Rigg from Masterdisk Studios in Peekskill, New York, leaves deliberate space so grainy archive snippets bloom rather than clash. The sonic palette remains cohesive, though purists might crave a rawer banjo bite here and there.
Track Glimpses
“Echo.” Over rolling mandolin, Bubbe Sarah announces, “My name is Sarah, I was born in 1892, in a little town, in Poland. The name is Vasilishok,” before Lev counters with the hook, “There’s an echo in me, I can feel it.” Moreover, Uncle Ben’s farm recollections—“We planted sweet potatoes, corn, and green beans”—create a folk-cinematic call-and-response that feels equal parts Ken Burns and Sufjan Stevens.
“Where We Come From.” Acoustic strums mimic a train rhythm as Mom confides, “We spun the cotton that most people wore,” while Dad replies, “We built the city from a hardware store.” However, the layered horns occasionally threaten to swamp Lev’s vocal, slightly muddying the otherwise crystalline mix.
“My Wish Was You.” Lev’s yearning chorus, “I wish my wish came true,” is undercut by the rueful bridge revelation, “I met you many years ago… then we had to let it go.” In fact, steel-guitar swells and brushed cymbals give the song a windswept Americana gloss that some listeners may deem almost too radio-smooth for the project’s archival grit.
Album Spine
The thematic through-line sharpens on “Who I Was,” where Lev toggles between archival phrases—“I worked in the mill when I was 13”—and his own existential chorus, “Who I was back then / Is who I am.” In Addition, closer “Our Friends” distills grief into comfort: “Those who are no longer seen / Are just as real as you and me.” The arrangement glows with hymn-like harmonies, yet never slips into mawkishness.
Verdict
Past Lives sometimes lets spoken interludes encroach on melodic payoff, yet its alchemy of genealogy and groove is daring. Lev has crafted a living scrapbook where each quote becomes both lyric and heartbeat—an auditory family quilt warm enough to cover us all.
You can pre-save the EP on Spotify
Enjoyed the read? Consider showing your support by leaving a tip for the writer
TRENDING NOW
CONNECT WITH US
FEATURED
A campfire flickers on the prairie while the city votes to forget—rrunnerrss, the eponymous debut by the Austin-born band rrunnerrss led by award-winning songwriter and composer Michael Zapruder, arrives as both shelter and flare…