Song of the Day: Manatee Commune - Clay (feat. Marina Price)

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Clay (feat. Marina Price)” by Manatee Commune from the 2016 Thistle EP on Bastard Jazz Recordings.

Manatee Commune - Clay (feat. Marina Price) (MP3)

The aqueous electronic textures of Manatee Commune were created to paint a musical picture of the Pacific Northwestern forests, but they've grown to encompass so much more than Grant Eadie originally imagined. Eadie's earliest musical endeavors were as a viola player in high school, and while a student at Western Washington University, he started Manatee Commune as a bedroom endeavor. His first live performance in 2013 started a run of gigs and recordings that garnered increasing attention, and by 2014, he'd graduated from being a Sound Off contestant to the bills of Decibel, Bumbershoot, and the Capitol Hill Block Party. His latest release, this year's Thistle EP, features Eadie's most fully-realized songs to date and precedes his debut full length, which is expected this summer. "Clay" is perhaps Eadie's most playful moment yet, connecting buoyant glockenspiel and flute runs with Marina Price's coy, chopped-up vocal performance. Marking an appropriate stylistic turn from a musician who's growing increasingly more comfortable at outdoor shows, the song's rhythmic sensibilities play more to the feet than the headphones, marrying festival tent-ready peaks and valleys with a cleverly restrained main refrain. "Clay" will undoubtedly sound great when it's coming off whatever festival stages Eadie will be occupying this summer, but it's clearly crafted to be more than just a crowdpleaser, arranged with both impeccable timing and a tasteful mix of the organic and synthetic.

Manatee Commune will have a number of shows in the Pacific Northwest throughout the summer, including a spot at Bumbershoot. Keep up with Grant Eadie and his project over at his website and Facebook page, and watch the brand new video for today's featured song: