Elizabeth Winterbourne is a singer-songwriter based in NYC, who I believe got her start growing up in AZ. She started releasing music last year and has a solid collection of tracks built around her solid vocals, good acoustic playing, nice chord changes and a big, big sound. She’s not the type of writer to stick to the standard format of writing (yay!) and does a beautiful job of creating soundscapes and drawing emotion. Perhaps that comes from all the travelling she’s done that’s well documented on her Insta page. She’s a compelling writer with style that could work or be transferred around to multiple genres, which is one of the signs of being a good artist. Here’s our review of her latest work, “Evergreen.”

Track starts with two cycles of a nice acoustic riff in a minor and then, boom, a great drop in from a loop that absolutely makes the track expand - great sonic combination. Part drum sound, part walking sound - whatever it is, it’s great. Her melody comes in on the 5 and pull off the 7 for a nice wide palate. In the first four lines of the verse you get a solid take on the quality of her voice. Great alto tone, with the ability to hold back and be tender, as well as have a bit of bit.

There’s an interlude after the first four lines the feature some beautiful falsetto BG’s that help build up the overall vibe of the track. Gorgeous work - it’s like a cross between Sarah McLachlan and LP. Really enjoy the lyrical content of the next four lines - nice visuals, very dreamlike, easy to relate to. This is followed by another interlude and it’s hard to imagine that we’re over 90 seconds in and haven’t hit the chorus yet. Love it when songs surprise me like that, love it when artists chuck the “3 minute rule” and just put together what feels best for the song. Have to comment on how much I like the keyboard tones - would love to know what boards or plug-ins were used.

As the chorus comes in, the chord progression changes in addition to the melody and vocal delivery. I’m dying to know the backstory to the song, maybe it’s just a dream sequence but the lyrics are quite heavy. Production wise, there’s no introduction of new elements here aside from the chord and melody changes, but it works just fine. Interesting to see how this plays out…..

With the second verse, the intensity of her vocal delivery picks up and features some syncopated hits and thicker backgrounds. Feels like there’s been a few added tones to the percussion loop - really dig it. The second interlude is thicker than the first, as is the intro to the second chorus - which has been built up by thicker claps and percussion. After the second chorus the acoustic pattern changes and it’s joined by a chorus of voices to help drive home the theme. Love the addition of the male voices, and whomever came up with that vocal arrangement deserves a beer - great work. The track finishes off with a third chorus, and a tag, with just her voice at the end. Love her vocal performance, love the mix and can’t stop thinking about those loop tones. Solid work all the way around. Feels like a dream sequence piece, or a sound-track piece, but he pulse is so prominent - despite the somberness of the lyrical tone, that for whatever reason I hear this as a great track to have blasting in the gym - it would be like working out with Kate Bush in the background. ;)

Make sure you scroll down to catch all her socials and other tracks. “Eveline” has the same vibe as this one - nice acoustic, thick ethereal keyboards, and a strong melody. Love the chord progression of “Blue Horizon,” beautiful chorus too - great melody! Wonderful work, Elizabeth! Best of luck with this release!

Elizabeth Winterbourne