Chris Mansfield, the Brooklyn-by-way-of-Seattle songwriter who goes by Fences, is set to deliver his latest collection of soul-bearing confessionals. After tasting a little bit of crossover success on last year’s Elektra Records-released Lesser Oceans (notably the Macklemore collab “Arrows”) he’s back with a new EP of earnest alt-pop, titled To the Tall Trembling Trees. Ahead of its Sept. 9 release on Votiv Music, Billboard presents the brand new “Pale Paper.”
“This song is a torn-up love letter to New York City,” Mansfeld tells Billboard. “No more talking / I know you’ve given up / let’s just write it down,” goes the refrain. Did that letter get torn up after these stabs at a true connection?
Watch Macklemore and Fences Perform New Song ‘Arrows’ on ‘GMA’
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“I tried to capture the lightness and the lightness leaving,” he says. “Flowery descriptives aside, this is a pop song.”
And indeed it is. Mansfield’s musicianship caught the fancy of Tegan and Sara’s Sara Quin (she produced his 2010 self-titled debut) so he’s got the credentials of one who can flip a wandering diary entry into verse-chorus clarity.
Check out “Pale Paper” below and pre-order the EP here.