Gregory Alan Isakov Releases the Enchanting “Caves”: Listen

Gregory Alan Isakov is returning this fall with his first studio album in five years. Evening Machines, due out Oct. 5, follows 2016’s Gregory Alan Isakov with the Colorado Symphony, which featured reimaginings of songs from Isakov’s discography with the addition of the Colorado Symphony. Out today, Aug. 15, is “Caves,” joining “Chemicals” as the second single off Evening Machines.

Immediately noticeable on the track are the shaking bells, which sound wonderfully in-place, emphasizing the strong beat while being unexpected. Isakov enters with a slight rasp and brings forth images of nature and relationships: “I used to love caves, stumble out into that pink sky. Remember that bright hollow moon. It showed our insides on our outsides.” Essential to the song’s boundary-less feeling is the enchanting vocal layering—the layers reach out in every direction to create the sense that they extend forever, but you are still somehow at the center of it all. Isakov beckons you to listen, closely asking, “Did I hear something break?”

Isakov wrote “Caves” with his friend Ron Scott, who went on meandering walks through the hills of Colorado with Isakov when he visited from Austin—his name is also included with the lyrics of the only new song on Gregory Alan Isakov with the Colorado Symphony, “Liars”.

Isakov recalls:

[Scott] and I spend a lot of time being quiet. He’s one of those friends that reveres silence as much as I do. It isn’t strange to not say anything while we are hanging out. We share a similar world where we write from. Some songs are about a story, a conversation. This one is more about the places that a song can bring you. And that love for silence.