Williston Irvine is undergoing a metamorphosis. He is continuing down a road that veers away from the traditional and into a more experimental side of indie folk. With a pair of new releases, includes a cover of Jason Isbell’s “24 Frames” we hear Irvine shift into a space that better accommodates some unorthodox backing instrumentation. His latest single, “Moon Tones” is either about recognizing the value in periods of growth or a touch of enthusiasm about becoming a werewolf, but possibly both.
“Moon Tones” is not your typical folk song. Under the jaunty melody, there’s a perpetual hum at work; a rush of white noise. It’s constant, alien and is mostly perceptible as it fills the voids between notes. Is it the muted sound of the tides? The vast emptiness of a barren planet? The rush of blood in the ears of someone who hears nothing but their own insatiable hunger for flesh?
“‘Moon Tones’ is a song about accepting changes in your life and realizing that it’s necessary for your own growth sometimes to leave things behind and have your place in that world be overgrown,” says Irvine without explicitly saying he’s a werewolf. “But it’s also about relishing in that change and excitement for new things and new experiences.”
“It seems lately I’ve cast a different shadow,” sings Irvine, apparently relishing in whatever new form he has taken. Irvine further admits that “Moon Tones” itself, between the groove of the main verse and its rhythmic drums, leaves him feeling as though he is “hanging in space or lost in a trance,” having lost his sense of control over his own being.
“When the solo comes in later it takes you to another world yet again,” says Irvine. “I had so much fun writing and recording this song, it’s easily one of my favourite songs that I’ve ever written. The guitar solo especially, it’s become the first thing I play whenever I pick up an electric guitar.”
Williston explains that the song holds such a particular place of importance for him that his upcoming album was very nearly dubbed Moon Tones. However, the very personal and even, perhaps, autobiographical nature of the songs has led him to leave the album, technically, unnamed. In place of Moon Tones, the new album from Williston Irvine has conspicuously—perhaps tellingly—adopted the title Williston Irvine.
Williston Irvine is scheduled to be released on April 9th, 2021 which marks the special occasion of one full year, less a day, since the release of Irvine’s first album. The date does not coincide with that of a full moon.