Winston Hightower
100 Acre Wood
PERENNIAL
There’s perhaps no type of musician more impressive than one who can let their creative juices flow freely as they write and assemble songs—and then make order out of chaos by ultimately producing a coherent album. Such is the case with Winston Hightower and his second album, 100 Acre Wood. Technically, Hightower (whose resume includes playing the role of “sideman” for hardcore bands Soul Glo, Minority Threat, and Twompsaxinitially—in addition to being a pro skater) has been passing around self-released collections of songs in cassette form as far back as 2015. But after letting what was surely a growing desire to return to solo artistry gestate, he realized that goal by properly stepping out with his almost-self-titled debut Winston Hytwr in 2024.
Fully assembled in the guitar experimentalist’s bedroom, Hightower embraced rock, rap, jazz, and pop over the course of that debut. Yet its 12 tracks by and large sounded more like sketches than full-fledged songs. Perhaps that was due to the Columbus native’s obsession with lo-fi, an aesthetic that often lends itself to sips instead of gulps. The 14 songs featured on 100 Acre Wood may be as short as the ones on Winston Hytwr, but they’re far more fleshed out and honed. That can be attributed in large part to the musician’s decision to record not only at home, but also in a studio, working with Mobile Control’s owner Hayes Waring in Olympia. As the artist behind indie-pop project The Moving Pictures and founder of Perennial Records, Hayes and his musical wisdom take the form of an invisible hand guiding both artist and listener through the ensconcing full-length.
100 Acre Wood begins with “Moonside,” a playful ditty and fitting prologue that features out-of-tune vocals over faint drums and guitar. Similar vocal stylings anchor the introspective “Circling the Dream,” which acts as the epilogue. In between are forays into early-2000s indie rock (“Help Is on the Way”), jangle pop (“Selfish Soother”), noise rock (“Blum House”), post-punk (“Virtue Signaling”), and—of course—more straightforward lo-fi (“High School”). What’s missing is Hightower’s penchant for tinkering with styles outside the rock realm. But just because elements of rap, jazz, and beyond aren’t on 100 Acre Wood, that doesn’t mean they leave a vacuum; Hightower fills the space with catchier and on-point rock music, experimental as it still may be on the bulk of the record. It’s not exactly a less-is-more situation, but rather a stay-on-target success. 100 Acre Wood puts to rest any doubts about whether Hightower is in his solo career for the long haul.
