Music from UTAH always feels like a quiet thrill. Fronted by Erik Savage, the Philadelphia-based band have a sound that fills spaces slowly but intentionally. Each song is a vision sketched into life by the progressive layering of Erik’s affecting lilt, Pete Gill’s pedal steel, sweet harmonies, and the perfectly placed patter of drums. Their brand new album, Reaper’s Gain, is out today. It’s a delicate collection of Americana-tinged gems that lets in speckles of light through the cracks of its yearning melodies.
As the sun was setting on late spring’s last bitter day, we gathered in the brick-lined nook where Erik and Sarah’s home meets their neighbor’s to shoot a live version of UTAH’s album closer, “Sam.” Gently gliding through acute pain, the melody in Erik’s reserved twang protracts across the swelling instrumentation beneath it. Bob Sweeney gave the video dimension as he climbed around the small space while Jake Detwiler captured the slow burning song’s soft reverberations against the surrounding textures. Share a moment of twilight with UTAH above and nestle into all of Reaper’s Gain below.
Catch them live at their album release tonight at The Velvet Elvis with Flight Habit, Annie Flame, and Jesse Magenta.
