“Saturday Night” Will Epstein

This way: Saturday Night

Will Epstein is a composer/songwriter/improvisor from New York. He makes music for film, dance and installation in addition to releasing records under his own name and High Water. Yeah, mostly is a new collection of 11 songs resembling a collection of short stories traversing a person’s relationship with their dishwasher, a grandparent’s funeral, an ungodly cold night in Los Angeles and other scenes that float in and around the rhythms of daily life. It is the most personal and self-assured album yet from Epstein–also known for his work under the moniker High Water, in addition to collaborations with Nicolás Jaar and Dave Harrington (Darkside)–as well as the most seemingly effortless application of his songwriting talents. His work composing for movies, like his recent IDA Documentary Award-nominated score for Nam June Paik: Moon Is The Oldest TV, bleeds into his recent, more accessible work. “A drop of music on an image can totally change the feeling and texture,” he maintains, and his fluid and uninhibited way of creating a different type of architecture for each scene imbues his songs with whimsy and character. 

Yeah, mostly was recorded between July 2024 and January 2025 at Epstein's home studio on an eight track tape machine, with vocals sung live and unedited, and minimal overdubs. The album's warm, homespun quality owes much to the intimate setting of its creation. With Yeah, mostly, Epstein wanted to pay special attention to developing his songwriting craft and finding a voice for his lyric writing that felt more naturally his own. In the months preceding this new material, he found himself listening repeatedly to Lou Reed’s The Blue Mask, drawn to the confidence with which Reed delivered and elevated even the most pedestrian phrase or idea with no signs of self-censorship. Applying a similar abandon to compact and concise songforms, the songs on Yeah, mostly rarely stretch beyond two or three minutes, and Epstein refers to them as “little things that you can put in your pocket.”

[Spotify] Saturday Night