Audiopile Review: Tonal Union continues their incredible streak with this newest album from Ezra Feinberg, the multi-instrumentalist who had a brief run with post-rock outfit Piano Magic before forming the experimental prog-psych group Citay alongside Tim Green (Nation of Ulysses, The Fucking Champs). He went on to record a handful of solo albums that met at the crossroads of new age and folk music before arriving here at Tonal Union with an album that incorporates all this past work into wholly new vistas. Feinberg also played on Arp’s Soft Power album, which is a great starting point for coming at this record. And much like Alexis Georgopoulos’ Arp project, Feinberg doesn’t adhere to any strict genre guidelines. With an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality, Soft Power is a luscious mix of acoustic guitars, vintage synths, piano, vibes, flutes and harp (supplied here by Mary Lattimore) that touches on jazz, new age, kosmiche and psychedelia. Another great addition to the growing Tonal Union roster, one that already includes genre-blurring artists like Akusmi, Blue Lake and Vancouver’s own C. Diab. It’s a beauty!

Ezra Feinberg’s third album Soft Power sees the composer-guitarist enlist an impressive array of fellow musicians including Mary Lattimore, David Moore (Bing & Ruth), Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, and Robbie Lee.

Defined by its abundance of melodies, repeating figures and ecstatic improvisations, Soft Power exudes an enlightened and transformative spirit to empower the listener. Feinberg, a practicing psychoanalyst and former founding member of the San Francisco psychedelic collective Citay (Dead Oceans / Important Records) resides in the artistic enclave of upstate New York’s Hudson River Valley. Initial recordings emerged in the late summer of 2020, before added synthesis with collaborator John Thayer (Arp, Sunwatchers) during early 2021. Soft Power follows previous albums Recumbent Speech (2020) and Pentimento And Others (2018).

Feinberg artfully transcends the listener to an enriched place, his compositions distinguished by the deep humanity that lies at their core, plugging the listener into a state of wide eyed being, open and alive. Soft Power then is Feinberg’s own mantra but also one of power giving—a colourful catharsis translated into music. Feinberg’s music always speaks to the listener, but Soft Power, in whispering, speaks loudest.