JESSE WALDMAN - THE SHIMMERING DIVIDE

Jesse’s debut album, Mansion Full of Ghosts, heralded by Vancouver Sun, Penguin Eggs, and The Georgia Straight, was an exploration of a city’s duality, with all of its beauty and shadows, expressed through varying moments of lush, orchestral arrangements to hushed duets over expert fingerpicking. The result was a beautifully crafted album that celebrated the pursuit of hope, and gently reflected on an oftentimes weighty effort to “keep a light on in the dark”. Canadian Beats praised, “infused with a hopeful tinge, Mansion Full of Ghosts is a wholesome, masterfully written debut that will appeal to fans both old and new.” https://jessewaldmanmusic.com/home

Jesse’s sophomore album, The Shimmering Divide, set for release September 20th, 2024, sees him collaborating with long-time musical partner Marc L’Esperance. The storytelling on Divide is deeply personal, delivered with the acuity of Jesse’s poeticism and Marc’s glittering harmonization and multi-instrument contributions. The songs are watercolours of people and places Jesse has encountered and truly cared about, presented humbly and gorgeously as an acoustic-based collection of alt-folk ruminations. The album holds a fresh wisdom gained since Mansion but maintains the virtuosity of playing and delicate ear for arrangements, serene and richly lulling like that of a train, which some of the songs just happened to have stirred from, jotted down in journals from the West Coast to Ontario.

Reflecting on the album title, Jesse shares, “For me the title ‘The Shimmering Divide’ represents the age-old battle between good and evil, which path to take to do the right thing in your life. Those points are charged with possibilities that can change you forever.”