[Cover photo credit to Katie Kupillas & Allyson Yarrow Pierce]
Sylvie, the project of Los Angeles-based musician Ben Schwab, has released their full-length debut album New Season via Ghostly International. The album features contributions from artists Alex Amen, Courtney Marie Andrews, Sierra Ferrell, Kacy Lee Anderson, and Will Worden, alongside an ensemble of L.A.- and Nashville-based musicians.
“California Hills (ft. Sierra Ferrell)” is out now also, one of the last songs on the record, and “a tender goodbye, drawing the listener close.” Sierra Ferrell’s vocals float over the arrangements, while the instrumentation and harmonies building over the course of the song. They “serve as a reminder of the community that created this record.” A scenic lyric video of the California landscape accompanies the release.
Ben Schwab says of the new track and video:
‘California Hills’ is about the feeling of absence that comes from being in a place that was once shared with someone who is no longer there. The vastness of the natural landscape and the California hills serve as a metaphor for the magnitude of that feeling. As the final song on the album, it ends with the feeling of trying to convince yourself that you’ll learn to keep moving forward without that person, without knowing how.
Sylvie’s New Season is Ben Schwab’s full-length debut with Ghostly International, and on it, the artist orchestrates a rotating cast while Producing every song himself. Although the record was built mostly alone in his home studio, the same way Schwab made Sylvie’s self-titled mini-LP, he flew to Abbey Road Studios to finish it, “growing the songs in scale.”
New Season unfolds in two chapters. Side A “greets the morning with movement, searching, and discovery”. Side B “settles into the night, turning inward to reflect on the grief we carry home.” The combination sounds “like a hopeful goodbye and a look towards what’s to come.”
Over the years, Sylvie has supported acts like Devendra Banhart, Cut Worms, Aaron Frazer, Teskey Brothers, and Hiss Golden Messenger across the world, as well as making headline tours across North America, Europe, and Australia.
Next year, Schwab and his band will embark on a West Coast headline tour, beginning February 19, 2027, in Seattle, WA. Tickets are on sale now, more shows will be announced soon.
SYLVIE LIVE 2027:
FEBRUARY
16 – Santa Cruz @ Crepe Place Garden Stage
19 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
20 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
21 – Portland, OR – Holocene
23 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
24 – Ojai, CA – Deer Lodge
27 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
MORE DATES ANNOUNCING SOON
