Kevin Bronson on October 10th, 2014

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Singer-songwriter Henry Wolfe’s 2011 debut album “Linda Vista” earned wide praise for songcraft reminiscent of 1970s luminaries, and for its wryly phrased themes – the duality of emotional topography vs. physical place, the tug-of-war between romanticism and reality. His new song “Encino” dwells in the same world: Here we are, after all, “in a town where dreams go to die.” The lustrously produced track is the first tune off a four-song EP Wolfe will release in November, and part of a full-length he’s been recording with producer Thom Monahan (Pernice Brothers, Devendra Banhart, Chris Robinson Brotherhood), due next year. Director Benjamin Kutsko’s video for the song stars Jena Malone, Charlie Wadhams, Benjamin Hjelm and Andrew Calder, exploring the notion further. “You have this urban, sprawling, almost featureless grid of light and traffic, all these cars, and it’s sort of drab,” Wolfe says. “Then, you drive for a half an hour and you’re in epic dramatic mountains or at the ocean. It’s extremely romantic. That kind of tension between the mundane suburban landscape and the epic natural beauty of the West is interesting to me.”

||| Stream: “Encino”

||| Live: Henry Wolfe opens for Dawes on Saturday at Pappy & Harriet’s in Pioneertown and on Sunday at the Constellation Room in O.C. Wolfe also headlines the Bootleg HiFi on Nov. 11, supported by Aaron Embry.