Back in the autumn of 2013, LA-based songwriter Stevie Weinstein-Foner released Let It Be Told, a record that drew upon a wealth of influences from the sixties and seventies and beamed them through the prism of the lo-fi stoner/slacker revival. The result was a collection of songs both rich and endearingly bright, with enough rock attitude to carry a certain swagger and more than the required dose of emotional sincerity.
Fast forward seven years, and Stevie Weinstein-Foner is finally ready to unveil the follow-up, Wondering. Along with a team of collaborators that includes Jolie Holland, Jared Samuel, Samantha Parton, Adam Brisbin, David Ivar, Levon Henry and Joanna Sternberg, Weinstein-Foner conjures an increasingly layered sound. Folk sensibilities are this time pushed front and center, though Wondering is far more than the standard folk record, as once again the free spirit retro vibes help achieve a laidback and hopeful aesthetic. In other words, the perfect antidote to these dark days.
Lead single ‘Good Medicine’ takes the idea at face value, a prescription for the present uncertainty and sadness. “What we need is some good medicine,” Weinstein-Foner sings, though it’s what he builds around this refrain that gives the track its true weight. The layered style is fully evident, with the acoustic guitar supported by Henry’s lazy saxophones lines, and soon joined by mellotron, Wurlitzer, piano and accordion alongside lush vocal harmonies.
What emerges is far from some trite lesson in positive thinking. A song complete with all the nuances and contradictions of lived experience. The kind of song that is seven years in the making, brimming with every moment that has led up until now. A good time coloured by loss and longing. As Stevie Weinstein-Foner puts it: “I’m always reaching for vulnerability in my songwriting.”
