Pigeon Spins Featuring an Interview with Ezra Vancil

Ezra Vancil - Babylove  

Released on October 1st, 2025, "Babylove" is the lead single from Ezra Vancil's double album, "Morning & Midnight." The track delves into the complexities of love, exploring themes of heartbreak and redemption. Recorded in a rustic cabin in East Texas, the album's organic production captures the intimacy and vulnerability of Ezra's songwriting. With a deliberate shift in tone from his previous works, Ezra's musical evolution in "Babylove" sets the stage for a transformative listening experience that is sure to leave a lasting impact on audiences.

Ezra Vancil, hailing from Dallas, Texas, is a talented artist whose latest release, "Babylove," showcases a blend of emotional storytelling and musical prowess. Collaborating with key contributors such as Lori Martin on bass and backup vocals, Chris Brush on drums, and the husband-wife duo Jonathan and Liz Estes on strings, Ezra brings a unique depth to his sound. Drawing inspiration from the late Chris Whitley, Ezra's music resonates with a raw and heartfelt essence that captivates listeners.

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Interview with Ezra Vancil

(º) What inspired “Babylove” and the emotional territory it explores between heartbreak and redemption?

This song was written during a divorce with my wife of 10 years. I don't really know how or why certain songs bubble up from the deep. This one, I think, was releasing the feelings of betrayal during that time. It’s a little bit of a folk song in how it tells a story, but underneath the story is this feeling of: there’s no use, I could never please this girl, and why should I? The lighter side of the story is that we got back together a year later and healed all the junk in the basement. I’m grateful for the song, but I wouldn’t wish that time on anyone.

(º) How did recording in a rustic East Texas cabin shape the sound and mood of the track?

Well, in so many ways, it shaped me and the music. I think it kind of prepared me to make this album. I come from more rural small towns, but I've lived in the big city most of my life. When I returned to the country, where no cell phones worked in those first years, I found a piece of myself that had been lost for decades. I did a lot of just sitting by a fire and thinking. The quiet allowed me to really consider this project and visualize it. Before I put up any mics or did any recording, I knew exactly what I wanted each song to feel like. That was my only job: follow that feeling until it was realized.

(º) What does “Babylove” represent in the broader story of your double album Morning & Midnight?

Morning & Midnight is a story, in a way, told across either side of a decade. The beginning of the decade was tough: divorce, child custody issues, loss of career, and the loss of everything I had built in my life. My house even went into foreclosure at that time. It was bad, but also good, because that was also when I finally got sober after a decades-long drunk. So there was a light with me during that time, a light saying, “It’s okay, this too shall pass.” That’s the Midnight side of the album. Most of the songs were, if not written during that time, part of that time or about it.

Then Morning is the other side, a decade later. I’d say it’s, in a sense, in the sunlight. The best years of my life, the richness I never imagined. So that’s where Babylove fits: on the darker side of love.

(º) How did your collaboration with Lori Martin, Chris Brush, and Jonathan and Liz Estes influence the final sound?

These guys and gals are amazing. They’ve been with me for many albums, and we’re just in sync. I almost can’t bear to work with anyone else because it’s hard to find the “thing” that gets created with this crew. Lori, the bass player, is also a longtime friend of my wife, and I love working with her because there are no ego games. When she comes to the studio, it’s like a creative campout; we just get to work, laugh when needed, and be serious when needed. She’s a melodic master, weaving in and out of my songs in ways I never imagined.

(º) What drew you to the idea of releasing a double album, and how do the two halves reflect different sides of you?

For sure, Midnight, because most of it was written a decade earlier, reflects my earlier influences in sonics, and that would be Daniel Lanois, Joseph Arthur, and Chris Whitley. I can hear their sound on that side. Morning, I think, reflects not influences but who I’ve become. It’s truly my sound, what I’ve become over these years, the sounds I love to hear. For instance, I’ve fallen in love with a certain brass sound I heard from a German family trombone trio many years ago, and I got a great artist, Danny Flam of New York Brass, to help me realize this very unique sound, at least unique to my music.

(º) How does this release mark a shift in tone or perspective from your earlier work?

Morning & Midnight is my play toy. I’d been working on an album trilogy for years, which started to make me feel caged to an old idea, because I had to finish it. This album came right after and was a release for me, to finally free a bunch of territory in emotion and music that had been with me for some time, with no outlet. At the same time, my previous work can still be heard in this album. So far, though, from my own fans at least, I’m hearing that it’s a new era they’ve never heard from me. Though I don’t wander very far from what I love, the acoustic-driven stuff, in subtle ways, I’m searching for something truly my own. This felt like I’d finally started to tap into that feeling.

(º) Chris Whitley’s influence is clear in your music—what about his artistry resonates most with you?

I don’t even know where to start. Chris does come through in this song, Babylove, but maybe not in most of my music. The musician is the last to know in these things, though. All I can say is he’s more deeply ingrained in me than almost any other artist. I didn’t just listen to him; he was my musical mentor for a few decades. I ate up his music like it was food for my soul. There’s only one artist I place above him, and that’s Bob Dylan, so he’s in good company. And it’s not like I set out to mimic him or try to write anything that sounds like him; it’s something about his soul that came through his songs that I connect with. My favorite album of his is all of them.

(º) The production feels raw and intimate—how do you balance vulnerability with musical precision?

That was one of the ideas I played with on this album. My last album, We Were Wild, I do love that album a lot, but I felt like I was getting so good at a particular sound of mine that I was actually losing what I truly am, which is a musical mess. I’m more comfortable recording in a closet than in a studio. But you know, I was losing the thread of what I set out to do. So on this album, I went looking for it again. And once again, it’s a subtle thing, but it means the world to me. That thing is: I do not polish my soul out of the song. I want people to hear what is truly me and not some dressed-up promotion of my studio skills. So I just tried to stop when the feeling was right. If the feeling was right but the note was wrong, in most cases, I chose the feeling.

(º) What message or emotion do you hope listeners carry with them after hearing “Babylove”?

Well, to be honest, I don’t know how to answer that. The song just is; I had to put it out there. I guess I imagine it will be a friend to those who feel like love has done them wrong and they want a little outlet for that pain. I like to think of my songs as becoming friends, because that’s what songs are to me through life: good friends, happy friends, and sad ones.

(º) If Morning & Midnight had one unifying truth at its core, what would it be?

Even if you’re tired and out of love, don’t give up; go see what’s over that mountain. I think you’ll be surprised.

(•)> That's all Folks! Check out Ezra Vancil on the Pigeon Spins Playlist