Eden Iris - Single Review: Young Guest Feat. Lucie Hill
I have followed Eden Iris since her (albeit brief) appearance on NZ X Factor in 2013, and I admire the way she has carved out her own path musically since then and created herself a life with music and songwriting well and truly at the heart of it. Proving she never really needed that glorified karaoke contest anyway! Residing predominantly in LA and more recently in California, Eden has been releasing singles on a regular basis over the past 8 years, culminating in her 2021 album The Fuchsia & The Grey.
Young Guest Feat. Lucie Hill will be her offering for 2022 and is a beautiful dreamy cross-continent collaboration, born of reconnection, co-written with Hill and self-produced by Eden Iris in her home studio, and featuring Lucie Hill (Little Lapin) on some of the vocals and backing vocals.
Upon first listen I was getting Massive Attack vibes due to the style of the production and the uncluttered but unrelenting off-beat. Eden Iris brings a modern synthy flavour to her folk singer-songwriter and indie roots, enabling her to create something quite unique. Her voice is sweet, intimate, and child-like … perfect for expressing the central theme of making peace with the inner child and accepting and loving one’s younger self unconditionally.
The track invokes a whimsical sense of mystery and charm, with great use of backing vocals and harmonies throughout, and ripples of reverb and delay in just the right places. The pre-chorus nicely builds tension before the chorus, which resolves with Hill’s beautifully delivered line “hiding in the silhouette, of a sycamore tree …” sometimes with an echo, and sometimes without, and then the last time with a gorgeous harmony accompanying it.
I like that about the production, it’s not a standard cookie-cutter formula. Eden keeps the song evolving and treats each moment as special and unique, keeping the listener’s ears fresh. She is an interesting artist. A little off-beat, with a child-like innocence and a mysterious side … I think the song does well as - almost a culmination of who she is all rolled into one track. As if that were ever possible! As artists, we can write a lifetime’s worth of songs and still feel like we haven’t quite been able to express everything that we wanted to.
This is a beautiful collab and well worth a listen or 10. Awesome creative work from a hard-working kiwi artist abroad.
About Eden Iris
Moving to Los Angeles at twenty years-old with just a suitcase and a guitar, Eden’s music has taken her to cities such as Nashville, Austin, and New Orleans to co-write and perform. Her music has had extensive radio play in Los Angeles, and has been featured in Billboard and American Songwriter Magazine. Commanding a strong live performance with her dynamic rhythm guitar technique, she has been a supporting act for artists such as Tami Neilson, Troy Kingi (New Orleans, Louisiana, Folk Alliance Festival 2020) and Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Los Angeles, You Are Us Concert 2019), and co-written with songwriters such as Maia Sharp (Bonnie Raitt, The Chicks), Dean Fields (Garth Brooks) and Cy Winstanley (Tattletale Saints).
Eden moved back to Aotearoa in late 2023, where she is currently working on her next album with producer Ben King. Her recent singles Sunshine Motel and Last Night’s Moon will be featured on the album, which promises the same tenderness and authenticity her listeners have grown accustomed to.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Eden Iris
Releases
Other Reviews By Cathy Elizabeth
Thomas Powers - Album Review: A Tyrant Crying In Private
01 Jun 2024 // by Cathy Elizabeth
This stunning 14-track debut solo album from Thomas Powers, of The Naked and Famous fame; A Tyrant Crying in Private is intense yet delicate, holding sadness and beauty in equal measure, deliciously gorgeous in all its glitched and distorted goodness. Parts of the album feel very heavy emotionally, particularly the neo-classical instrumental pieces, which have a vast cinematic effect.
Read More...
Ha the Unclear - Album Review: A Kingdom In A Cul-De-Sac
25 Apr 2024 // by Cathy Elizabeth
If I could choose one word to sum up Ha The Unclear’s recent album release I would have to go with the word “inspiring”. And if I could throw a few more together in a kind of haphazard stream-of-consciousness way, I would add that A Kingdom In A Cul-De-Sac is oozing with creativity, quirky humour, plumbing the depths of musical understanding, and coming back up to the surface with a gift - permission to be one’s authentic self.
Read More...
SNRXG - EP Review: True Story
06 Nov 2023 // by Cathy Elizabeth
Huntly born and raised artist SNRXG keeps the quality tracks coming with this 6-track EP True Story. Collaborating with top-notch local talent, the production on all of these tracks is mint.
Read More...
Phorrest - EP Review: On My Way
19 Sep 2023 // by Cathy Elizabeth
Tuning into the new EP from Auckland hip hop artist Phorrest, the intro track does well to set the scene for the rest of the EP. But wait, why is the title track of the EP in brackets and labeled Intro (On My Way!
Read More...
day13n - Single Review: PA1N x SAG3
11 Jul 2023 // by Cathy Elizabeth
Listening to Day13n’s new single PA1N x SAG3 is the stuff of nightmares, with a dark and edgy musicality underpinning the intensely whisper-screamed lyrics. The song is divided into two halves, which nicely illustrates the forces of duality that are at play in the mind of the artist.
Read More...
Will McClean - Single Review: Seem Alright
21 Jun 2023 // by Cathy Elizabeth
This week Will McClean releases Seem Alright, the second track from his upcoming album Don’t Forget To Breathe, alongside an accompanying video clip. Seem Alright is a punchy upbeat jazz-funk hip-hop track that has been nicely arranged, with a dash of clarinet, strings, and a sampled jazz vocal for the chorus.
Read More...
Jaqualyn Taimana Williams - EP Review: Guns of Dialogue
20 Jun 2023 // by Cathy Elizabeth
Successful children’s music creator Jaqualyn Taimana Williams has recently released a 5-track EP called Guns of Dialogue to follow up her 2019 multi-genre album Statues of Liberty. Guns of Dialogue has a great rock vibe overall, with a fusion of various other elements woven throughout its tracks.
Read More...
Gig Review: Mel Parsons @ Meow, Wellington - 28/05/2023
30 May 2023 // by Cathy Elizabeth
It’s been a good while since I’ve been to a gig at Meow, Wellington, so the first thing I do is weave my way through the growing crowd to get a good look at the size and layout of the stage. It’s nicely raised and fairly spacious, more spacious than I remembered actually!
Read More...
Most Viewed Artists
Latest Galleries
NZ Top 10 Singles
- APT.
ROSÉ And Bruno Mars - DIE WITH A SMILE
Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars - BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Billie Eilish - TASTE
Sabrina Carpenter - I LOVE YOU, I'M SORRY
Gracie Abrams - ESPRESSO
Sabrina Carpenter - SAILOR SONG
Gigi Perez - LOSE CONTROL
Teddy Swims - A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
Shaboozey - GOOD LUCK, BABE!
Chappell Roan
More Content on muzic.net.nz
Google Site Search
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report A Problem
