Massachusetts-based husband/wife indie-folk duo, The Promise is Hope, comprised of songwriters Eric & Ashley L'Esperance, will release their sophomore album, 'Every Seed Must Die' on May 18th.
"My wife and I met while serving on a worship team at a small church in Worcester, MA when she was attending undergrad", explains Eric. "At the time I was the worship leader for the church. Once we connected, we quickly fell in love and began dreaming of leading a creative life together as a songwriting duo. The Promise is Hope was born in 2014; and I proposed to Ash during an encore at... Read More Massachusetts-based husband/wife indie-folk duo, The Promise is Hope, comprised of songwriters Eric & Ashley L'Esperance, will release their sophomore album, 'Every Seed Must Die' on May 18th.
"My wife and I met while serving on a worship team at a small church in Worcester, MA when she was attending undergrad", explains Eric. "At the time I was the worship leader for the church. Once we connected, we quickly fell in love and began dreaming of leading a creative life together as a songwriting duo. The Promise is Hope was born in 2014; and I proposed to Ash during an encore at our first live performance. A year later we were married, and 6 months after that we released our first album, Where We've Been & Where We're Going.
We began performing around New England, and quickly found our place among New England's finest emerging indie-folk artists. Our debut was a joyful record, but then in a two-year span we lost four family members to tragic deaths in quick succession; and witnessed the slow disintegration of our faith community. Having witnessed firsthand the effects of cancer, suicide, mental illness, and disillusionment, we saw only one way to work through our confusion and questions. We began a slow process of songwriting as an outlet, which ultimately resulted in Every Seed Must Die.
The process of writing and composing - using our shared tastes for delicate folk and acoustic music - resulted in a heartfelt map of the darkness we had experienced. We believe our trials helped us to creatively mature, both lyrically and musically, and further our mission to carry on the tradition of great folk storytelling.
The album is unique for its restrained production, which was approached with the goal of listener's intimacy. To that end, we tapped Old Bear Studio (Batavia, NY) producer Chris Hoisington, a master of the 'less is more,' approach. He helped us craft a retro-inspired acoustic sound that showcases the our honest, heartfelt vocals, as well as our soft quilt of instrumental choices (finger-picked guitar, piano, cello, and a Mellotron). The overall vibe of the set is soul-soothing; listening to our delicately intertwined voices is an experience any lover of fine harmonies will appreciate.
Every Seed Must Die was created to weather a slate of life's toughest moments, and that has become a driving force of The Promise Is Hope: to make music that helps others work through stormy seasons and see a way forward. This is a musical journey that allows the listener a glimpse at our personal melodic and lyrical revelation: that as each chapter of life closes, a new chapter begins. And this new chapter points towards a hope that outpaces the doubts, difficulties, and losses of life."
