Widowspeak

Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas, recording as Widowspeak, fuse hazy dream pop, country twang, and indie pop jangle to produce understated music steeped in lingering moods. Their sound reached its murkiest point on the 2011 album Widowspeak, with Thomas generating dense walls of distortion that enveloped Hamilton’s moody murmurs. Their work later grew more polished and diverse through releases such as 2015’s All Yours, which brought added sparkle to the songwriting and overall sound, as well as 2017’s heavier and more aggressive Expect the Best. Via the mellow yet politically minded Plum in 2020 and the dreamy reflections on creativity and change that shape 2022’s Jacket, Widowspeak created music of growing timelessness and relevance.

Hamilton’s early involvement in the Tacoma, Washington music scene forms the band’s foundation; there she and drummer Michael Stasiak placed songs on a compilation before relocating to New York. The pair added Thomas to the lineup in 2010, and later that year the trio used a laptop and GarageBand to produce a six-song cassette titled The October Tape. Captured Tracks signed Widowspeak and released the band’s debut single, Harsh Realm, in March 2011. The Gun Shy single, containing a cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game,” appeared the following June. For their self-titled debut album the group worked with Woods’ Jarvis Taveniere; issued in August 2011, Widowspeak earned praise for its dark, hazy, drawling songs.

Once Widowspeak completed touring behind the album, Stasiak left the group. Now operating as a duo, Hamilton and Thomas began their second album in early 2012. Recorded with Kevin McMahon inside an old barn in the Hudson River Valley, January 2013’s Almanac foregrounded the folky and Fleetwood Mac-like facets of their sound. Later that year Widowspeak released the Swamps EP, which they characterized as a bridge between earlier material and forthcoming work. Shortly afterward Hamilton and Thomas moved to Saugerties, New York and paused the cycle of recording and touring. While taking jobs and returning to school they continued writing at a measured pace, then rejoined Taveniere for their third album. Arriving in August 2015, All Yours also featured Woods drummer Aaron Neveu and explored Almanac’s velvety country and classic rock tendencies more fully.

After a period back in Tacoma and a subsequent return to Brooklyn, Widowspeak tracked at Marcata Recording, setting Hamilton’s contemplative lyrics against a heavier sound enabled by touring bassist Willy Muse and drummer James Jano. Issued in August 2017, Expect the Best presented a darker collection influenced partly by the 2016 presidential election. Not long after the album’s appearance Widowspeak covered Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.” Thomas and Hamilton again relocated upstate and stepped away from the band for a time; during that interval Thomas issued his solo debut, 2018’s Another Age. For Widowspeak’s next album the duo recorded with producer Sam Evian, who also contributed bass and synth, along with drummer Andy Weaver and pianist Michael Hess. Drawing inspiration from wabi-sabi principles as well as late-stage capitalism, Plum surfaced in August 2020. In January 2021 Widowspeak released the Honeychurch EP, a companion to Plum that gathered songs written during those sessions plus covers of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” and Dire Straits’ “Romeo and Juliet.” Thomas and Hamilton extended Plum’s themes of creativity and worth on March 2022’s Jacket, which originated as a concept album centered on a fictional band before shifting to a freer approach. Recorded at Diamond Mine after the duo’s return to New York City, the album was produced by Daptone collaborator Homer Steinweiss and included contributions from Hess, bassist J.D. Sumner, and founding drummer Stasiak.