75 Bands in 75 Days – Day 69: Zoë Wick

Ladies and gentlemen of the Pacific Northwest, merry Christmas! This is 75 Bands in 75 Days, where we bring you the best talent that the Pacific Northwest has to offer, one day and one band at a time. On this fateful day, with less than a week to go before the conclusion of 2014 and this year-end segment, we’d like to share with you one of the best singer-songwriters in all of Washington State, one Zoë Wick.

Seattle-based musician Zoë Wick is a singer-songwriter of the indie folk persuasion that’s been working for a few years now. The sound that Wick generally runs with is akin to that of other indie folk acts to come from Seattle, like Fleet Foxes, Shelby Earl, and Jen Wood‘s 2010’s output, while certain tracks like “I Am the Water” give off a sort of jangling indie pop sound reminiscent of Cumulus. What most prominently sets Zoë Wick apart from these other local acts, however, is her voice, which is rather youthful, gentle, and somewhat nasally. It’s a certain vocal sound you may have experience with if you’re familiar with the music of iamamiwhoami. We were first introduced to Wick’s music through a brief performance at this year’s Folklife Festival, and we’ve been enamoured ever since.

To date, Zoë Wick has released one EP under her own name, Lose the Moon, which contains four original tracks and a killer cover of alternative hip-hop trio CunninLynguists‘ track “Love Ain’t”. Wick is also a member of Built to Fade, a sort of folktronica-, neo-soul- and trip-hop-inspired project which features three vocalists, with some very impressive production from Kno of CunninLynguists. Lose the Moon is available on Wick’s Bandcamp page for free streaming and downloading, and we heartily recommend you check it out if northwest indie folk tickles your fancy. Furthermore, if artists like Phantogram and BANKS are your thing, Built to Fade is also recommended listening. We hope to see more solo material from this promising artist in the near future.