Edgehill appreciate the cracks, the nicks, the bumps, and the bruises.
The Nashville, TN trio—Chris Kelly [lead vocals, guitar], Jake Zimmermann [lead guitar, vocals], and Aidan Cunningham [drums]—never sand down or smooth out the edges of their songs. Instead, they find truth in the fissure between fuzzed-out distortion and disarmingly infectious melodies, bringing old-fashioned grit back to alternative. They deliver the kinds of hooks that ruled Alternative Nation during MTV’s golden age, yet could just as easily translate to a generation born and raised on social media. It’s the sound of growing up as amplified through grainy guitar riffs and the kinds of lyrics that give you permission to speak your mind and heart.
Generating millions of streams independently and stirring up buzz, the band instantly captivate on their 2025 full-length, Ode to the Greyhouse.
“We made an effort not to get too fancy or cover up the little mistakes,” observes Jake. “We let the album be the most honest and unfiltered reflection of who we are musically and emotionally.”
The band members grew up in markedly distinct areas of the country. Chris originally hailed from Charlottesville, VA, and Jake primarily grew up in Long Island, NY. Early iterations of the band formed before the guys welcomed Aidan—who called Westfield, IN home—into the fold. Even though their zip codes may have differed, the guys shared a bond by virtue of “living in Suburbia and using music as an outlet for expression.” Chris and Jake initially connected as students at Vanderbilt University, cementing a fast friendship. Jamming together, they unassumingly established a foundation for what would become Edgehill. While working a shift at a local coffee shop, Chris met Aidan, and the group’s lineup was locked in. During 2022, Edgehillmade waves with “Shooting Glances,” reeling in over 2 million Spotify streams. Building a local buzz with countless gigs, “Lookaround” posted up 1.3 million Spotify streams followed by fan favorites like “Something (Practically)” and the Live At East Iris StudiosEP.
For the better part of 2024, the musicians feverishly demoed ideas, chipping away and sculpting a signature sound of their own. Simultaneously, they expanded their collective sonic palette by listening to everyone from Pinegrove, Alex G, and MJ Lenderman to Weezer and Nirvana. In December, they decamped to Minneapolis, MN for twelve daysand recorded at Pachyderm Studios—made famous as the birthplace of Nirvana’s In Utero. On this hallowed ground, Edgehill recorded Ode to the Greyhouse with producer Tone Def, and he made an intentional effort to preserve the spirit of the songs.
“We zeroed in on the music’s textures to create this intangible rawness,” adds Chris. “A lot of it was inspired by nineties rock, which would have quieter vocals and roaring guitars.”
“Tone Deaf understood where we were going,” says Jake. “He knew it couldn’t be professional and polished. He was the perfect person to capture what we do and bring the best out of us. We wanted the album to sound lived-in, because that’s how we’d made the music.”
This sentiment underscores the opener and single “Drone Song.” Echoing through a haze, loose guitar envelopes a steady rhythm as Chris’s voice booms through the haze, “I’m not a hero, but I’ve got a drone.” Strains of distortion bleed into broken piano during the refrain, “It’s a joke, but I don’t need a punchline. Don’t think about it. I’ll be fine.”
“It’s a reflection of having a long day when your brain just turns to mush,” Chris reveals. “It’s the result of being scatterbrained, not taking yourself too seriously, feeling like you’re failing at something, and letting whatever absurdity in your mind out onto a sheet of paper.”
Soft vocals barely break the echoes of acoustic strumming on “Double Take.” As if turning on a dime, the verses get caught up in the undertow of a rush of feedback. The chorus stomps, “It’s okay. I got it. I’m breaking out the coffin.”
“It’s mournful and reflective,” says Jake. “You’re looking back on a relationship and wondering how much of it was your fault versus the other person’s fault. What could you have done better? It reaches a point where you can say, ‘Fuck it. I’m going to get through this, learn from it, and move forward’.”
“We were stuck at the moment,” recalls Aidan. “When Chris began writing and Jake helped with the lyrics, we started jamming as a band. We found the perfect way to elevate the chorus; it was almost like living the song in the moment.”
The upbeat “Love To Go” rushes forward on a punky groove punctuated by a head-nodding bassline and palm-muted crunch. “It’s an outlier, since it’s a bit older,” reveals Jake. “We’ve played it at almost every show since we became band. It felt like the right time to record it properly and release it.”
Then, there’s “I Can Be Your Dog.” They master the classic “loud-soft” dynamic with a chantable Parental Advisory sticker-worthy chorus, “Fuck you…if you want me to, I can be your dog.”
“We were going to cowriting sessions for the first time and told to write ‘a pop song’,” sighs Jake. “We wrote ‘I Can Be Your Dog’ as a sarcastic pop song. We’ll lay down and roll over, but we’ll be spiteful about it.”
Fittingly, the band settled on the title Ode to the Greyhouse in homage to the house in Nashville where Jake and Chris live and most of the album gestated.
“It addresses our band and friends,” Chris states. “It’s a memoir of what we had been doing for the past year. We realized it fit with the method of how we actually created music. We were in this house and using the sounds of the house. Everything came from there. It’s our tribute to the house.”
In the end, the album is Edgehill at their most raw and real.
“We want our music to give you an emotional release,” Aidan leaves off. “We hope you relate to what we’re doing.”
“If you listen to this, maybe you’ll feel heard and understood,” Chris concludes. “We try to break the fourth wall by being so open that it empowers people to be open as well.”
