With roots firmly in Pōneke, Eigenface is an Aotearoa/New York trio that blend folk intimacy, dream-punk atmospheres, orchestral and electronic experimentation. Their songs move between comfort and unease, pairing bright melodies with dissonance, layered vocal harmonies and richly textured arrangements.

The Eigenface band members are Penelope Esplin (French for Rabbits, Lake South, Grawlixes) on synth and vocals, Elliot Vaughan (Moth Quartet) on bass and vocals, and Logan Valentine (Moon Lander, The Tweeks) on guitar and vocals, all well experienced musicians. 

Valentine provides the New York connection. When he moved there around two years ago they had already written most of the songs for the album, and begun the recording process. 

Eigenface have developed a softly charming style that finds beauty in uncertainty. Their sound finds comparison with US indie rock acts Loma and Son Lux (both also trios), but for many the apparent connection will be to the stellar likes of Radiohead and Portishead.

The legend holds that the three Wellington musicians had an impromptu challenge to write and perform on one another’s work. The result became a cohesive set of songs that will feature on Eigenface’s anticpated self-titled debut album. Quizzed on how quickly they reach the tipping point of deciding to join forces, Valentine says it was longer than you might think.

“We’d been working together for 4-6 months, figuring out how to do a three-headed solo thing. And it was going well, but it didn’t feel natural.

“By chance and good luck, and while setting up for a writing session, Penelope started playing Portishead’s Roads, and Elliot and I quickly started playing a very thinly sketched version as Penelope moved through the verses and chorus.

“The whole thing connected sonically. Maybe that was because the writing had been taken out of it for a moment? We’re not sure. But we’d been recording everything and replayed that section of the recording. It sounded great.

“In that moment we decided to think about how to apply that sound to what we had, and suddenly it all felt quite natural. We referred back to that recording a few times at the start, and most of the album writing was done within a few weeks from there.”

In House by the Sea Esplin sings of the love-hate feelings that emerge from living in a house by the sea on Wellington’s south coast. She weaves a delicate vocal line, shifting from the pleasure of the expansive views and remoteness of the location, to the uneasiness of being so exposed to the elements. 

Familiar from various live band roles on keyboards and vox, Esplin recalls House by the Sea arriving somewhere in the middle of the album writing process.

“I wrote House By The Sea and another song on the album, Son, on the same day – after spending a week inside with the flu. It was written at a house on High Street in Island Bay, Wellington. The house was incredibly picturesque and idyllic on calm warm days, and terrifyingly exposed on windy, rainy days! I think I was a bit delirious from being stuck inside and I was spaced out from the sickness – the house was definitely getting to me.

“I wrote the bare bones of the song on a guitar with vocals. It was much dreamier and slower in the original version, without much dynamism. I brought it to the band and Elliot could hear a dynamic version of the song and worked some true magic of production to create the song you hear now.”

A song about emotional resilience, Esplin consents there’s perhaps a degree of meaning in it being chosen as the first Eigenface track released. 

“More kind of by chance, although I think a good life is built on emotional resilience. It’s one of the best skills you can develop in life. There is a huge amount of growth that can come out of discomfort. I was very lucky that I ended up in a house that forced that lesson on me. And it also makes for a good song.”