H.C. McEntire’s new song “Time, On Fire” builds and retracts with a driving pop drum beat, exploring movement like the ebb and flow of a river. It’s the perfect scene setter for Eno Axis, a new album McEntire aptly named after the river she lives beside, North Carolina’s sprawling Eno. Pre-order Eno Axis ahead of its August 21 release on CD, LP, and copper marble Peak Vinyl in the Merge store, or from your favorite independent record shop.
“Time, On Fire” arrives ahead of release with a video triptych that offers glimpses into McEntire’s daily rural routine. Watch it today:
McEntire describes “Time, On Fire” as “the catalyst to reopen my heart and mind. Its spirit also symbolizes the true foundation of Eno Axis; writing this song gave me direction to document the climb forward into new love.”
Unlike McEntire’s solo debut, Lionheart, which was recorded in sporadic bouts and fits while she was touring, Eno Axis is firmly rooted in place. After two years working all over the world as a backup singer in Angel Olsen’s band, McEntire came home to a hundred-year-old farmhouse tucked away in the woods of Durham, North Carolina, right on the Eno River. Here, McEntire was able to refocus. Like the blue-collar Appalachian kin she descended from, her days were scheduled by the clockwork of the Earth’s rotation: splitting wood, stacking it, weeding and watering the garden, walking the dog past the bridge and back—and every evening on the front porch, watching dusk fall. Eno Axis emerges from this time as the strongest work McEntire has shared yet.
Photo credit: Heather Evans Smith
