Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Seth Engel is releasing his seventh full-length under the name Options. Known for a sound that treads indie rock and dips in and out of math rock, the project is like if Algernon Cadwallader tried meditating. Window’s Open is the next record from Options, arriving Friday, October 23, following Wind’s Gonna Blow from earlier this year. Today, he’s sharing the single “Bound (To).”
“Bound (To) was the first song I finished for this record,” Engel says. “The drums are chopped up and rearranged from some improvised drumming I did in the studio, and while each layer came to me pretty quickly, the time between tracking each was spaced out quite a bit. I had a lot of fun with the dual bass part and ambient guitar loop, but then didn’t get to the acoustic guitar part until a month later or so, and I did most of the keys parts one night on a tour, months later—I was crashing at someone’s house who happened to have a Rhodes electric piano in the basement, and I also happened to have my mobile recording rig with me.”
He continues: “I wrote the words mostly about searching for a place of peace with my own wants and expectations in making music. Although sometimes easy to forget my own goals and conflate them with more prevalent cultural & industrial standards, I’m so grateful to be surrounded by a loving and genuinely supportive community of artists and musicians here in Chicago—really helps keep me grounded and focused!”
Listen to the sprawling track “Bound (To)” below.
