Baroque Pop Artist Reid Jenkins Shares Debut EP; Watch The Head Turning Video For “Pillow Song” Now
April 23, 2021 BY Nettwerk
Tomorrow, Baroque-pop, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Reid Jenkins shares his debut solo EP, A Beautiful Start. Working closely with mixer-engineer Jake Lummus, Reid wrote, arranged, orchestrated, and co-produced all the songs, as well as performed many of the parts on the recording. The four tracks act as a snapshot of his various internal dialogues as well as his polymath abilities.
For Reid, the production tells a story as much as the songwriting does: “I like to use real sounds, like recorded violin and guitar because they have a certain resonance as ‘authentic.’ But I also like to contrast these sounds with stuff that is obviously inorganic.” So, for example, he might contrast real horns with a heavily altered tuba sample, or a real drum kit with percussion samples from a Casio keyboard. Reid adds, “you don’t have to be austere to be intelligent. Intelligence can be whimsical, ecstatic, silly.”
To celebrate the release, he shares the upbeat caffeine-fueled track, “Pillow Song,” a maximalist fantasy that blends the camp-glam of Queen with the rattling lyricism and textured production of Vampire Weekend. Reid explains, “it is an ode to waking up next to your lover on a Sunday morning. I wanted to celebrate a small moment and make it explode with a huge arrangement of contrasting elements – acoustic, electric, recorded, sampled, hifi, and lofi.” The accompanying video was inspired by Peter Gabriel’s iconic video for “Sledgehammer.”
WATCH (AND SHARE) “PILLOW SONG”:
Reid is one-half of the indie-folk band Morningsiders, who are known for their single “Empress,” which reached the #1 spot on Spotify’s U.S. Viral 50 playlist. On his debut EP, A Beautiful Start, Reid Jenkins explores a colorful medley of emotions and musical influences, drawing from his roots in folk music as well as his fascination with sound design and production. Born into a family of musicians, it’s no exaggeration to say that Reid’s childhood was like The Royal Tenenbaums meets The Carter Family. Raised in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Reid, who is trained in violin (jazz & classical) as well as fiddle-music, grew up playing in a family band with his parents and two older sisters Cassandra Jenkins and Stephanie Jenkins. His family became well-known in musician circles for hosting a longstanding house concert series, as well as for opening their home as a stopover for a patchwork of touring musicians, from indie rock royalty to opera singers. Immersed in this exposure to a wide variety of artists from an early age, music has always played a central role in Reid’s life. Stay tuned to more to come from Reid.
