With Machine Living in Relief, Brooklyn’s E.W. Harris delivers a stunningly human acoustic meditation on artificial lives. Known for his folktronica roots, Harris takes a bold turn stripping away electronics to reveal an intimate, hand-crafted world where robots dream and AIs ache with longing. The result? A hauntingly original work of acoustic science fiction that feels both futuristic and achingly familiar.
Each of the six tracks is a vignette drawn from Harris’s ever-expanding “Rocket City” universe a romantic dystopia part Blade Runner, part Narnia. Standouts like “Chemical Fire” and “Treble Negative” shimmer with poetic melancholy, carried by Harris’s raw vocals and intricate guitar work. What begins as a barroom dare to write an acoustic album about robots unfolds into a masterclass in narrative songwriting, fusing speculative fiction with timeless folk sensibilities.
Harris isn’t just crafting songs he’s sculpting mythology. His characters, part-machine, part-mirrored reflection of ourselves, wander through collapsed skylines and broken circuitry in search of something beautifully elusive: connection. It’s rare to find an album that so effortlessly invites listeners to question their humanity while humming along.
In Machine Living in Relief, E.W. Harris proves that even in a future run by algorithms, there’s still no substitute for storytelling with soul. This EP is not just worth hearing—it’s worth inhabiting.
