Photo by Dani Barbieri
Today vocalist, trumpeter and composer Jennifer Hartswick announced that her latest offering, Something in the Water, will release on Sept. 9 via Brother Mister Productions. In conjunction with the album announcement Hartswick has also shared a lyric video for a single off the project titled, “Only Time Will Tell.”
Something in the Water sees the Trey Anastasio Band founding member reconnect with her friend and collaborator Christian McBride, and includes nine new tracks comprised of her original repertoire and fresh arrangements familiar to her core ensemble and featured guests. The project was co-written with guitarist and producer Nick Cassarino, and together, through the LP, they paint a vivid and tender portrait of the essentials of human existence through pristine audio quality, organic humor and vulnerability.
“We wanted to celebrate the human experience,” said Cassarino in a press release. “We wanted to write about all facets of love and life and loss and gain. There’s definitely an arc of someone’s life in this album.”
Along with Cassarino and McBride, Something in the Water also features the musical stylings of Conor Elmes, vocalist Celisse Henderson, keyboardist Rob Marscher, trombonists Natalie Cressman and Roy Agee and lyric input from songwriter Erin Boyd. The album was recorded at Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville, Tenn., alongside engineer Joe Costa, and mixed and mastered by Greg Magers and Dan Shike, respectively. The inception of the project occurred while Hartswick and Cassarino were at a closed bed and breakfast in Vermont during the winter of 2021; there, the two used the unique and controlled environment as a space to fully commit to composing an entire record.
“We’d write and cook and write and cook and laugh and cry and write and cook,” said Hartswick. “That was the purpose of the trip, to see if we could write an album.” She continued to say, “We wrote ‘Only Time Will Tell’ over a big pot of jambalaya, in front of a roaring fire in Vermont in January. I hope the Relix fan base digs it. You all have always been so good to me!”
On the track, Hartswick showcases just how much her sound has evolved and how defined it has become. She layers sound upon sound, stacking horns, and threading vocals, all while keeping the core of the track buoyant, ready for swift shifts and clean enough to express a narrative cleanly.
“‘Only Time Will Tell’ explores the story of a woman scorned,” Hartswick shared. “All too often, we stay too long because it’s familiar, not because it’s good for our soul. The temptation to stick around will always remain. My music is blossoming. More life has been lived, and evolution is happening. I hope people who listen do so with an open heart.”
Find the tracklist for Something in the Water and Hartwick’s upcoming tour dates below.
Pre-order Something in the Water here.
listen to “Only Time Will Tell” below.
Tracklist:
01 Only Time Will Tell
02 Fairytale
03 Two Way Mirror
04 By the River
05 Guilty
06 For You
07 Innocence
08 Enamored
09 When I’m Weary
Tour Dates:
July 9 – Denver, CO – Cervantes Other Side
July 14 – New York, NY – Unfiltered Jazz Festival
July 15 – Ludlow, VT – Fletcher Farm
July 16 – Burlington, VT – Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center
July 23 – North Plains, OR – Northwest String Summit
July 24 – North Plains, OR – Northwest String Summit
July 31 – Newport, RI – Newport Jazz Festival
Aug. 12 – East Durham, NY – Catskill Mountain Jubilee
Aug. 13 – Telluride, CO – Telluride Jazz Festival
Aug. 14 – Telluride, CO – Telluride Jazz Festival
Aug. 25 – Big Sky, MT – Music In The Mountains
Sept. 9 – Pembrook, MA – Into The Sun
Sept. 10 – Pembrook, MA – Into The Sun
Sept. 11 – Pembrook, MA – Into The Sun
Sept. 16 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheater