On a mission to release a meaningful double album, ‘Morning & Midnight’, Texan-based troubadour Ezra Vancil has recently unveiled another piece of the puzzle, a heartfelt, meaningful song evoking a particularly tender shared memory. ‘Island’ is exactly that; centred around a lovely moment on a beach steeped in romantic allure, the track feels soothing and nuanced, a gentle and hypnotic slice of escapism and graceful, cathartic energy. Wrapped in eclectic indie-folk and catchy melodies, ‘Island’ is truly a heavenly fever-dream, a loving memory framed into timeless musical goodness.
Featuring Ezra’s daughter Cozi on backing vocals, ‘Island’ unfurls with a certain intimacy and introspection. Recorded in a cabin in East Texas, the record benefits from the contribution of Ty Richards on electric guitar, Jon Estes on bass, Chris Brush on drums, and JP Ruggieri on production duties. As one can imagine, ‘Island’ belongs to the ‘Morning’ side of the album. Taking a wider look at it, such a large body of work describes the journey from darkness to light as a metaphor for Vancil’s revamped relationship with his once-ex-wife.
As Ezra explains: “‘Island’ was written a few years after my wife and I got back together. We’d gone through a divorce, a lot of hard years, and this song came from the peace that followed. It’s a song about time moving on, even when life finally feels right. We took a little trip to the beach with our daughter after a string of shows. We didn’t have much, but we splurged on a night at a hotel by the ocean. It was one of those perfect memories; sand, laughter, sunlight. I think I wrote the song trying to hold on to that.”
Recommended! Discover ‘Island’ on Spotify:
