Pete Keating and The Renslow Trestle's new single "Tenderly" opens with acoustic guitar and voice recorded live together, and you feel that choice immediately. Nothing is overworked. Nothing is hiding.
The track moves at a slow, deliberate pace that pulled me in before the first verse was done. Keating's lead vocal sits high and warm, a falsetto edging into its upper register with this aching, unsteady quality, like it might not survive the line but lands it anyway. I kept replaying those verses just for that feeling.
Minimalist. That's the only word.
The instrumentation leaves so much open air that the emotion just sits there in the room with you, not performing, not reaching. Keating has said "the release of 'Tenderly' coincided with my wedding anniversary, which puts to words and song the magic of why our marriage works so well," and you hear it... there's a sincerity here that most songs about love never get close to. No grand gestures. Just the truth, quietly.
Recorded at London Bridge Studios in Seattle, Eric Lilavois's production has a clean, open quality that suits every unhurried moment. Find this on a slow afternoon. You won't stop thinking about it.