Chicago-based artist and musician Anna Holmquist (they/them) announced their first collected release in years as their solo project Ester. They will be releasing their eight song-long EP Laundry off of EU-based label Audiosport Records (Born Days, Lindsay Clark, Sungaze).
Sharing the last single “Little Shadow” ahead of the EP release on November 3rd, 2023, it’s one of a few songs on the EP that reimagines one of their older songs from their last album Turn Around (Midwest Action) from Spring of 2020.
Both the new songs and the new renditions on Laundry feature longtime bandmate and collaborator Katelyn Cohen. She is featured on cello throughout the EP, but especially on this version of “Little Shadow.”
Holmquist has been playing music for most of their life both alongside and prior to Ester, including co-writing and performing with Indie-Rock band The Curls.
Holmquist says:
I originally wrote this song about a specific person and a specific time. But I’ve found over the years as I keep playing a song, it grows and takes on new meaning for me, and that’s been very true for this tune. I often think about all of the little shadows that we let scare us in our day-to-day lives, and how they’re easily banished by a little bit of light. I hope listeners can get new meaning out of this new version of ‘Little Shadow,’ which was originally recorded with a full band as part of our 2020 record Turn Around.
Much of Ester’s music is about change, including Laundry. Laundry is a sparser record than the last album Turn Around, which featured a full band.
Holmquist and Cohen performed as a duo at Audiotree for a series between Do312 and Jack Daniels, performing “Lock Me Up” and “Little Shadow,” and duo versions of these songs will be included on the upcoming EP too.
