{"product_id":"photay_waking-hours_2025_pia","title":"Waking Hours","description":"THE SECOND LP FROM THE NEW YORK-BASED ELECTRO PRODUCER. It's 2020, and everyone is exhausted. Everything is falling apart, and on top of that, there's the daily stress of simply living in this modern world. Screens are everywhere, we're all tethered to our phones and social media; trying to keep up simply feels impossible. Like all of us, Evan Shornstein, aka Photay, grapples with these issues. Hailing from Woodstock, Photay grew up surrounded by nature and relative peace, so now his life in New York can feel stifling. With his new album, he confronts this problem head-on. Titled 'Waking Hours,' this second album doesn't offer a ready-made solution, but it invites listeners to look around and ask themselves some questions. More specifically, 'Waking Hours' is a meditation on time and our obsessive need to fill every moment with activity. The album invites us to find comfort in simply being ourselves. The search for calm is at the heart of 'Waking Hours.' Where its predecessor, 'Onism,' was a dreamy and wondrous record, Photay's new LP often flirts with pop and frequently features his own voice. The music is still largely electronic but ventures into paths that even Photay didn't expect to take. For example, on \"Warmth in the Coldest Acre,\" he uses auto-tune for the first time, giving his voice an ethereal quality that perfectly blends with the song's synths and Balkan-inspired percussion. Even bolder, with \"The People,\" the abrasive rhythm is wrapped in electro-funk flourishes and saxophone. It also features the use of a Buchla Music Easel, a semi-modular synth in circulation since 1970, which Photay heavily relies on throughout the rest of the album. \"Is It Right?\" showcases his songwriting with a warm suite of plucked strings, soaring melodies, Buchla droplets, and a surprisingly gentle voice. Photay is at his best when he blurs the lines between genres. He wanted to invite other collaborators into his world, as 'Waking Hours' includes appearances by Carlos Nino, Michael Lovett (Metronomy), Gambian kora player Salieu Suso, as well as backing vocals from Felicia Douglass and Kristin Slipp. The instrumentation is rich, in addition to the Buchla synth, there are guitars, acoustic piano, and live drums, Evan having been a drummer since elementary school. If Photay considers 'Waking Hours' his most personal effort to date, it is by no means an insular album. The expansion of his palette and the contributions of others have only strengthened his vision. It's a small personal space where everyone can come and breathe. \"Through repetitive choruses, Photay raises the clamor, all on an insolent beat, somewhere between house and funk.\" --- NOVA ---. \"Photay is not only a talented composer, but also a DJ with a sharp selection.\" --- RADIO France CAMPUS ---.","brand":"Photay","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55304519090520,"sku":null,"price":23919051.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/0184923126310_7c93c3ee-05fb-4deb-9d5d-bba54199d644.jpg?v=1762357369","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en-us\/products\/photay_waking-hours_2025_pia","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}