Electronic music artist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Grant Eadie and his solo recording project Manatee Commune has received regional attention across the Pacific Northwest and a growing national profile for a carefully and organically molded electronic sound that pairs natural overtones extracted from field recordings with slick and nuanced electronic production.

Eadie’s soon-to-be released EP, Thistle, slated for a February 26 release marks two new developments in the young producer, multi-instrumentalist and electronic music artist’s career — it’s his first release through renowned Brooklyn-based label Bastard Jazz Recordings, the label home of Illa J, Lord Echo and several others; and the effort is the result of Eadie radically changing his songwriting, production and recording process as he  opened his studio and gear to friends, collaborators and loved ones, gaining inspiration from the energy of each of those interactions. As Eadie explains in press notes “Learning how to share my creative process with my friends completely revolutionized the last of year of music for me. Inviting those I trusted and loved into my studio to spend even just an hour talking or jamming opened fountains of inventive energy for me, especially from the ones who lacked any musical knowledge. I soon found myself incredibly inspired by the originality of even the smallest interactions with people, and so I pointed my field mic at anyone who had a story, a melody, or a stumbling beat they had been absentmindedly drumming, all in the hopes of capturing their individuality and framing it with my ever expanding insight into audio production.”

Thistle’s first single “Clay” pairs a stuttering yet breezy and coquettish production consisting of twinkling and chiming percussion, a looped flute sample, layers of shimmering synths and swirling electronics with Marina Price’s flirtatious and sultry vocals to craft a song that reminds me quite a bit of Sylvan Esso — but bouncier and slightly more dance floor friendly. Considering the Arctic weather we’re soon to have in New York, “Clay” is a brief yet lush and necessary blast of summer.

Catch Eadie live throughout March and April as he tours the Pacific Northwest with Blackbird Blackbird and Chad Valley. Check out tour dates below.

Tour Dates 

3.3 Bellingham, WA Wild Buffalo (EP Release Party)
3.10 Portland OR, Mississippi Studios ^
3.11 Seattle WA, Nectar Lounge ^
4.19 Tucson, AZ Club Congress *
4.20 San Diego, CA The Hideout *
4.21 Los Angeles, CA The Echoplex *
4.22 Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst *
4.23 San Francisco, CA Social Hall *
4.30 Vancouver, BC Alexander *
^ with YPPAH
* with Blackbird Blackbird & Chad Valley