Called a “masterpiece” by both the Baltimore City Paper and Portland, Oregon’s Willamette Week, St. Even’s debut album Spirit Animal now yields its second single in album opener “Blinding Love.” Spirit Animal is out now via Dustbin Records and the album’s title track has also just been released.
Isn’t it cool when the title track of an album actually ends up elsewhere? Such is the case with “Spirit Animal.” The song appears not on the album that bares its name, but on the “Greenwood Compilation,” put together by Portland’s Materials To Outlet studio. All of the artists on the compilation have appeared on each other’s records and have shared the stage with one another as well.
According to Hefter, “It’s in step with the Portland vibe and it’s also just a nice showcase of (Spirit Animal producer) Jake Kelly’s underappreciated studio and its unique sound.” Listen to St. Even’s “Spirit Animal” here: http://materialstooutlet.bandcamp.com/track/spirit-animal-2.
Currently based in Portland, but originally from Baltimore (this explains how these regional publications are ahead of the curve on this one) St. Even’s Steven Hefter has previously collaborated with Baltimore luminaries such as Chris Freeland of Oxes and Frenemies and Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak (heard on the track “Having Sex”) among others.
The west coast beckoned in 2009, and now in 2011 with Spirit Animal released under the name St. Even (why didn’t any other Steven ever think of that?), Hefter is set to show the rest of the country what others already know. Steven Hefter is available for interviews.
