Eartheater - Powders (2023)

Shapeshifting between electronic experimentation and acoustic texture, Eartheater has long delved into themes of erosion and lithification, along with the infinite possibilities of metamorphosis. On her new album Powders, alchemical forces connect ideas from every stage of her career just as they dissolve her practice into atomized particles ripe for reconstitution. The results find Eartheater at a fertile crossroads, honing her pop songwriting and lyrics to their most vivid state to date—all without losing the thread of experimentation that has always enlivened her work.

Powders took its initial shape and vision within the hallowed walls of Sunset Sound in Hollywood. Showcasing production that shifts on a dime between mutated dance music, unadorned folk balladry, trip-hop, and torch song pop songcraft, if her compositions seem to inhabit a shell of one style for the span of a verse or so, tendrils of another soon slide into view. Powders draws varied energies from Eartheater’s own omnivorous tastes as a songwriter and from her stable of co-producers and players, including Yves Rothman, Sega Bodega, Lecx Stacy, Casey MQ, Elliott Kozel, Tony Seltzer, Luis Aponte, Isaiah Barr, Sammy, and Kiri. While previous albums found Eartheater’s vocals typically warped by effects or piled thick with multi-tracked layering, Powders presents her signature transfixing multi-octave melodic runs resolutely up front in the mix, highlighting her performances with new purity and detail.