"This Is How It Ends"

This is the debut single from Press On - the soon to be released recording from singer-songwriter, Peter Himmelman.
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Press On, Peter Himmelman's forthcoming 13-song album, was recorded live in Los Feliz, Calif. in a total of three days. “We used a simple creative forcing frame for our three-day marathon session, which consisted of four rules,” Himmelman says. “Upright bass on every song, little to no cymbals and high-hats, no professional background singers, and as much live recording as possible. We wanted anyone listening to the music to feel as if they were in the room with us as we were recording.” These days not many players have the musical chops to record without stopping to fix mistakes or to improvise complex parts on the fly. The musicians Himmelman selected for the project were capable of both, and they were excited about the chance to make a live-in-studio recording in a short span of time.
Recorded with the help of Himmelman’s longtime bassist/collaborator Matt Thompson, drummer Jimi Englund, keyboardist Chris Joyner, and guitarist Greg Herzenach, the spare, soulful sounds of the debut single, “This Is How It Ends,” allow room for Himmelman’s biting, and sometimes, nearly clairvoyant lyrics to rise up through the swirls of gospel-like colors within the musical arrangement. Producer and engineer Sheldon Gomberg notes, “the musicianship on ‘This Is How It Ends’ is of the highest quality. These guys are some of my favorite players around. The way they listen and respond to what’s happening is what gives the record its remarkable immediacy.”
“This Is How It Ends,” which Himmelman composed on the piano one afternoon in his living room in Santa Monica, California, was written nearly a year prior to his move to New York City in August of 2019. “As with many songs of mine that I wind up being most attracted to, this one was also a surprise when it emerged,” Himmelman muses. “I asked myself then and now, where did this come from, what does it mean?”
This is the sound of unearthly silence, after a year of blood and violence. These are
the men grey with ash, rollin’ their barrels of useless cash...
Press On, produced by Gomberg, Thompson, Himmelman, and Arthur Himmelman, is set for release in August 2020, with details to be announced shortly.