Denison Witmer – Anything At All
Denison Whitmer’s new album Anything At All, produced by Sufjan Stevens, is releasing on Valentine’s Day this week via Asthmatic Kitty Records. Hailing from the idyllic Amish country of Lancaster Pennsylvania, Denison balances songwriting and playing music with carpentry, along with committed fatherhood. The resultant songs are infused with the influences of those rootsy natural connections, set up in sonic grandeur that remains anchored in straightforwardness.
The album opener “Focus Ring” exhibits the lines that became the title, as the song gradually opens up into symphonic group vocals that are wide and spacious and cinematic: “anything at all you need.” It’s catchy and memorable and bodes well for what’s to come.
“A House With” is an ode to bird feeding: “I want to have a house full of bird life, so I went and bought feeders, bags of seed, hooks and chains and hung them all around the yard just outside of every window / filling up my heart again.” Denison has a knack for expressing natural connection and warmth with dreamscapes and ambience and a breathiness that fulfills the inner soul with resounding elevation.
In “Older and Free” the electric guitar is delicate and thoughtful to start as Denison sings about the lake, berries, and stopping at a farmstead along the way. “I’m older and free, to do as I please, beholden to no one else for the first time in weeks” is such a relatable sentiment and there’s a high flutelike sound and “ohhh, the sound of leaves as they blow out of the trees it’s poetry.” This song again picks up elevation and splendor.
“Clockmaker” is a little bit of a whimsical analogy of someone who works with delicate instruments and has found a kindred spirit: “as I drove in the nail that was attached to a spring I adjusted the door for the breadth of the swing, she looked at me and said, ‘did you know that I was once a clockmaker?'”
Denison Witmer has crafted an album of songs that reverberate with spacious refrain while being grounded in simplicity and directness at the same time. It’s truly unique and well worth the listen. Find more information here on his website: https://denisonwitmer.com and music is here on BandCamp: https://denisonwitmer.bandcamp.com
Musicians on the album are Denison Witmer on acoustic guitar, electric guitar, classical guitar, rubber bridge guitar, and vocals; Sufjan Stevens on electric guitar, keyboard, percussion, piano, autoharp, omnichord, recorder, bass, banjo, celeste, synth, drums, high strung guitar, drum programming, and vocals; Andy Park on bass, piano, drum programming, keyboards, trympet, and xylophone; Abby Gundersen on strings; Hannah Cohen on vocals; Meghan Lui on vocals; Sean Lane on drums; Sam Evian on bass guitar, saxophone, and lead electric guitar; and Keenan O’Meara on lap steel.
All songs were written by Denison Witmer. Anything At All was produced, arranged, engineered, and mixed by Sufjan Stevens, with co-production, arrangement, and engineering by Andy Park (Tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 9), additional vocal production by Steven Aguilar, additional mixing by Devin Greenwood, and mastering by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering, Seattle, WA. Vinyl mastering was performed by Levi Seitz at Black Belt Mastering in Seattle, WA
Anything At All was recorded over 2022-2024 at Sufjan’s studio in New York, the Crumb in Seattle, WA, and at Denison’s home in Lancaster, PA
