Writing back in July, we described how recent single ‘Menu’ typified “the balance between sincerity and playfulness which marks the Ead Wood sound, delving into an ostensibly mundane situation to reveal the deeper meanings beneath the surface.” The Bristol-based project started out as the solo endeavour of Ed Soles (who you might know as part of Langkamer), though soon evolved into a full band in order to bring to life Soles’s vision. “Their Americana-inflected sound positions them closer to acts like Friendship than any of their British brethren,” we continued in our preview, complete with pedal steel and classic vocals harmonies.
Again released via Breakfast Records, latest single ‘Peace in the Pines’ sees Ead Wood continue to work this fertile ground, maintaining a certain brightness even if the style is not quite as light-hearted as ‘Menu’. Instead we’re given a bittersweet slice of wistful reflection, with Soles evoking that strange mix of comfort and loss inherent within any spot of natural beauty. “‘Peace in The Pines’ is a song inspired by a month-long cycle trip I did last year, traveling through Spain and down the coast of Portugal to Lisbon,” Soles explains. “It’s about the desire to maintain a sense of adventure and not conforming to the status quo by writing your own narrative. There is always pressure to ‘settle down’, buy a house, get a steady job but it’s just as important really to find space for new adventures and experiences, if not at least that sense of wonder and beauty that can only be found in nature.”