ESTER – “LITTLE SHADOW” (DUO VERSION)
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE MUSIC PREMIERE
Chicago artist Anna Holmquist (they/them) has been sharing their songwriting as Ester for the past decade, first as a solo outlet until later growing as a full-band project. After playing in bands in Chicago like the eclectic indie-rock band The Curls, including performing at Pitchfork Music Festival, they decided to double-down on their contemplative songwriting as Ester.
Ester released their first album as the full band in 2020 with Turn Around (Midwest Action), which looks back at the past to understand one’s growth while meditating on major life changes. As luck would have it, it came out at a time of immense change in late March 2020. The ensuing year gave Holmquist, like a lot of music artists, a lot of time to reflect and write.
Despite all the different releases and iterations of the band, reflecting on change is the throughline in all of Ester’s music, even releasing a song in early 2023 called “Change is Allowed.”
After sharing the A/B side singles “Red Rover” backed with “Change Is Allowed” in the beginning of 2023, they will be sharing their next larger release, the EP Laundry, with Audiosport Records in November 2023. The eight-song EP heavily features their longtime collaborator, Katelyn Cohen, on cello throughout the record except for the last track, and the record also reinterprets three songs from Turn Around in a sparser duo setting as this duo.
Holmquist also runs the hilarious Bad Songwriter Podcast — where artists cringe while sharing some of their earliest songs, including episodes with artists or band members from Speedy Ortiz, Ratboys, Melkbelly, Diane Coffee, and more. They also worked with Audiotree, Do312, and Jack Daniels for a live session series after Turn Around came out, performing as a duo with Cohen as well.
Ester’s music can be best heard in a house full of mirrors. While Holmquist says Ester is available to play weddings and funerals, their music is really suitable for any big moments of change.
ARTIST QUOTE
“I originally wrote this song about a specific person and a specific time. But I’ve found over the years as I keep playing a song, it grows and takes on new meaning for me, and that’s been very true for this tune. I often think about all of the little shadows that we let scare us in our day-to-day lives, and how they’re easily banished by a little bit of light. I hope listeners can get new meaning out of this new version of ‘Little Shadow,’ which was originally recorded with a full band as part of our 2020 record Turn Around.”
Ester
[Single]
(Independent)
Release Date: October 10, 2023
Artist Links
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: MADAME REAPER – “FALLING APART AGAIN”/”GLUING MYSELF TOGETHER”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: FRANK VIELE – “PUTTING OUT FIRES”/”THE TROUBLE WITH DESIRE”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: ELENA ERIN – “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: OCCURRENCE – “FEEDING TIME”
