New York City singer-songwriter Leo Sawikin is set to release his new album Till You’re Somebody Else on January 24, 2025, the follow up to his 2021 debut, Row Me Away. Sawikin describes the aesthetic of his new recordings as “shoe-gazey Britpop.” Its guitar-driven vibe evokes 80’s, 90’s, and early aughts bands as diverse as The Cure and early Coldplay, which Sawikin grew up hearing from the backseat of the family car.
While Sawikin often records from his home studio in New York’s Little Italy, for this album, he traveled to Seattle to work with the legendary Phil Ek, who produced breakthrough albums by Built to Spill, The Shins, Fleet Foxes, and Band of Horses. Musically, Sawikin says he approached the sessions with Phil Ek differently from his previous ones, including those with the indie outfit he fronted in the 2010s, The Chordaes. “I’m always trying to explore new musical possibilities,” he says. “For one, I wanted to do a record that showcased my chord voicings in a much more up-front way than I had in the past. And on previous recordings, I worked with a full backing band, but this time Phil encouraged me to do all the guitar parts myself, as well as creating and playing keyboard parts. I found my way to a guitar style that combines elements from Joni Mitchell, Alex Chilton, and Johnny Greenwood. It was quite a challenge, but I feel like there’s more of me on this album, and that we really were able to distill the songs to their essence.”
Sawikin has put out most of the album tracks already, including the jangling, infectious “Till You’re Somebody Else,” which was released April 2, 2024 and reached the #1 spot on the Mediabase A/C Independent Artists Chart and reached #26 on Billboard’s AC Chart. Tonic Grain said, “the ecstatic guitars and dreamy keys fuse in a magnetic sonic wave… unfolding beautifully in the big, effective chorus. The anthemic sound and Coldplay-like lushness of ‘Till You're Somebody Else’ are elevated by the absorbing melodies.”
Another highlight of the album is Sawikin’s most streamed track to date, “The Same Mistakes,” which has resonated with fans globally, from the US and the UK to Brazil to Indonesia. Celeb Mix raved, “…a low-slung, softly gleaming guitar topped by Sawikin’s oh-so evocative voice, at once tender and wistful…rolls into a delicious, throbbing rhythm, swaying on gentle undulations. Slowly building, the tune takes on a glowing wall of sound, full of enveloping resonance and gorgeous, shimmering coloration.”
Other tracks include the most recent, “Am I Ever Gonna Fly Again,” “What Is the Answer” and “Hold On,” which Earmilk called “a “…masterpiece,” saying the song “…takes listeners on an emotional rollercoaster that they won't soon forget.” Neufutur hailed Sawikin’s vocals on “Don’t Pass It By” as “…a deeply felt, attentive, and highly musical performance…That falsetto note during the song’s chorus puts a graceful touch on an already elegant performance…” Rounding out the album are “New York I’m Coming Home,” an uplifting song about the joys of coming home after a long trip and seeing your surroundings with new eyes, as well as “This River,” and the yet to be released “The Life We Choose,” which encapsulates the album’s themes of ever-evolving identities and artistic self-discovery.
Sawikin has spent much of 2024 on a tour opening for Jon McLaughlin, playing dozens of venues across the country, all the way from the Troubadour in Los Angeles to New York's City Winery, just a few miles from Leo's home.