Having climbed higher and higher with each new evocative and stylishly original release from recent years, Lithuanian-Canadian songwriter and producer Aistis returns this year with a sublime new album, and continues to highlight the profound thoughtfulness of both his songwriting and musicianship.
Eight tracks make up Caviar for Seagulls, an introspective album that’s quick to connect for both its vulnerability and increasingly colourful, even theatrical make-up. Comfort Like This is a fascinating opener, somewhat familiar in its short lines and something like a nostalgic Elton warmth to the vocal fluidity, but largely its own thing; thanks to the instrumental choices, the subject matter, and the softly soulful performance at the forefront.
The piano is the beating heart of the music, in many ways, and this is clear from the relevant switch to melancholy musings, for Memory’s Gaze, and the subsequently more upbeat and energized but still keys-led Nothing Here Ever Changes – a cinematic Americana highlight for its lyrical and vocal confidence, and the sheer uplift of the arrangement.
From intimate wonder to big-band celebrations (Didn’t Think), Caviar For Seagulls is something of a multi-layered masterpiece from the solo songwriter Aistis, and makes for a refreshingly unexpected and immersive modern playlist.
Find Aistis on Instagram.
