It’s not entirely accurate to say that EZTV met while trying out for J. Spaceman’s US touring line-up of Spiritualized, but it’s not far from the truth. Songwriter and audio engineer Ezra Tenenbaum had been casually working on solo home recordings on his Tascam 8-Track and, in a desire to round out the songs, he enlisted bassist Shane O’Connell and drummer Michael Stasiak (formerly of Widowspeak). The shining “High Flying Faith”— the first song written for the album. Inspired by the lyrics of “Broken Heart” by Skip Spence, it’s a 12-string-propelled nugget that best shows how EZTV operate: toeing the line between past and present, with a keen ear for left-of-the-dial experimentation that never lets the songs hew too far into pastiche and genre nostalgia. Many of the band’s foundational inspirations — the Feelies’ upstart jangle, the upside-down pop architecture of Arthur Russell’s power pop band The Necessaries, Shoes’ aching harmonies — are back in play on High in Place, their sophomore album, though new instruments and feels abound throughout. Produced and engineered by the band themselves, a baby grand piano rings and 12-string acoustic guitars shimmer throughout the album, recalling the clear-eyed production techniques of Jeff Lynne.
The Fat Angel Sings 