Denison Witmer, the new self-titled album from the veteran singer/songwriter will be released on April 30 by Asthmatic Kitty Records. Denison Witmer is a stunning collection of 11 songs inspired by love, loss, self-affirmation as well as self-discovery. Witmer makes soft-music, not to be confused with soft-rock, that is thoughtful, atmospheric, engulfing and continues to unveil itself upon each listen.Rolling Stone referred to Witmer as “...our favorite underrated singer-songwriter...” Underrated is an appropriate word for Witmer, who has released eight full-length albums and garnered critical praise from outlets such as Pitchfork, Entertainment Weekly and Popmatters, to name a few. Even with a myriad of acclaimed supporters and collaborators such as Sufjan Stevens, William Fitzsimmons (both appear on the album), Damien Jurardo, and Noah Gundersen Witmer’s career always seems to have flown just under the radar. Perhaps, that is, until now.After building a substantial body of work, why did Witmer choose to self-title his ninth album? With the birth of his son, the loss of his father and the arrival at a crossroads, questioning his chosen career path, Witmer found inspiration and validation from another artist, who had never recorded a single note. While in Amsterdam, Witmer visited the Van Gogh Museum, where he spent numerous hours absorbing some of the master’s greatest pieces. The true discovery for Witmer came from Van Gogh’s earlier works, before his most famous period. He marveled at the vast amount of rarely discussed Van Gogh creations. Witmer then observed that traces of the artist’s earliest work appeared in his most cherished paintings. Witmer had an epiphany. The simple, yet powerful, realization that our past experiences truly shape who we are and what we do in the present had a profound impact on him. It was now obvious that his present could not exist without his past, and it was vividly clear that everything he had created in his past had now brought him to, Denison Witmer, a fully realize piece of art.The songs on Denison Witmer are delivered with a gentle beauty that is both transfixing and hypnotic. Right from the opening track “Born Without the Words”, Witmer’s voice, lyrics and arrangements exude warmth, delicately easing into the depth and sentiment that runs throughout the album. From the inspired “Constant Muse” to the short, but poignant “Let Go A Little”, each track on Denison Witmer is a window into the artist’s own experiences.
