Factoring in Wendy Eisenberg's solo material and various collaborations, their collected output is all over the map: from skronking rock to intimate folk, from pop structure to experimental abstraction. On their acclaimed self-titled album this year, Eisenberg leaned into their singer-songwriter side. But there's more than one way to approach those songs.
Today Eisenberg has surprise-released Wweennddyy Eeiisseennbbeerrgg, a new companion album comprising extended versions of two Wendy Eisenberg tracks. Recording with bassist Trevor Dunn, violinist Mari Rubio (more eaze), and drummer Ryan Sawyer, Eisenberg created a stunning 37-minute version of lead single "Meaning Business" and a nine-minute edition of closer "The Walls." Naturally, they're now titled "Mmeeaanniinngg Bbuussiinneess" and "Tthhee Wwaallllss." The resulting 46-minute collection is longer than the original LP, and it serves as a reminder of how adventurous and versatile this artist can be. I want to write songs that feel infinite.
I want to write songs that transcend their production, that can weather the changes. It’s probably a holdover from my jazz training, the desire to hear my material in different contexts. A standard sounds different passed through time and hands.
This band, Ryan Mari and Trevor, can do anything- between them their practices span jazz, metal, country, ambient music, minimalism, and hyperpop, at least. Why not literally stretch them, and my songs, out? I want to feel when a slowed-down song becomes ambient music, becomes jazz, becomes something else.
Experimental music; an experiment. Hopefully not chopped, but definitely a little screwed. Subjecting these two songs, songs that are explicitly about memory, to a compositional process explicitly about length, lets me perceive the time in each song differently.
In these versions, the form is maintained but sections elide, become solos, become worlds. Returning to the chorus feels different after fifteen minutes than it does after a minute and a half. Maybe it’s a Cagean imposition, making a pop song stay interesting after 20 minutes.
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