Whitney at Other Music

Julien Ehrlich

Drummer Julien Ehrlich left Unknown Mortal Orchestra to play in the Smith Westerns, where he met guitarist Max Kakacek. The short-lived Smith Westerns split in 2014, and Ehrlich and Kakacek became roommates and wrote songs together, and Ehrlich became the main vocalist. They formed Whitney in 2015 as an indie band in Chicago, Illinois. Whitney released its debut album, Light Upon the Lake, on June 3, 2016.

Whitney tonight headlined what may be Other Music's final in-store concert, as the record shop will close at the end of the month. Led by Ehrlich's high vocals, Whitney performed folk-pop songs that were light in sound and heavy in emotions. The lyrics often originated from wounds of the heart, but the music's slack grooves permeated the room with a soft and casual texture. Ehrlich's soulful near-falsetto vocals hit first. The breezy sound of the music was then punctuated by a fluid trumpet riff or a brief spunky guitar lead. As contemporary music seems to moving to harder sounds, Whitney provides an option for indie fans to move in the opposite direction.

Visit Whitney at www.whitneytheband.com.