All You’ll Be is Song by Eli Shane | Album Review

Storybook wonder coats Eli Shane’s sophomore folk offering on love and heartbreak.

Eli Shane’s sophomore album, All You’ll Be is Song, released May 27th, 2026. (Photo from Bandcamp)

New York native Eli Shane’s psychedelic folk sound grabbed my attention from the moment I heard his single “Westlands.” Having gravitated to the harp as he pursued his bachelor’s in studio composition at SUNY Purchase, he began writing his own music. Having honed the experimentation displayed on his debut album, Therein Lies the Garden, he creates a soundscape that enmeshes Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, and Sufjan Stevens’s overworldly folk leanings into a refreshing daydream that’s solely his own.

You’re taken underneath hypnotic waves of sound in the short opening piece “Overture.” Shane’s harp bends and purrs as ambient sounds and samples pour over you like incorporeal images coming into view in your subconscious. I find it to be a welcome introduction to the realm Eli wishes you whisk us off into.

“Marksmen” flits with tense contemplation entrenched in the constant discontent that seems to color everything you do. While pearls of jubliance roll in momentarily, it all feels fleeting as Shane spins into a whirlwind of words as the fog of listlessness creeps back in. Its fairytale-like liveliness reminds me quite a bit of Joanna Newsom’s work. I quite like how Eli gallops from desperation into the lows of gloom and back into the light of optimism within the swings from verse to chorus.

The swing of emotions around leaving the familiar to start anew with the one you love coats the visuals on “Knowing Glaces.” Shane brings this moment of change to life through his sprightly harp playing and evocative use of ambient city and motion picture set samples. This brings an innocent awe to the bond building between the two lovers. I found Shane’s intermingling of spoken and sung verses made the story feel quite captivating.

The second single “Westlands” from All You’ll Be is Song released September 2025. (Photo from Bandcamp)

“Westlands” immediately struck me with its rich, rolling harp chords and ambient bird calls. Through the lush greenery grown through Shane’s arrangement are rays of hopeful light brought about by new love. Eli’s voice holds a tenderness recalling the comfort their encounter washes over him. It’s wholly rejuvenating. I love how a sense of unabashed jubilance overcomes him just thinking of all the courage he now has from his woman’s connection with him.

I adore the placid tranquility that welcomes you into “My Certainty.” Calming field recording of crickets nestle cozy into Shane’s gentle ripples of twilight harp chords. As we’re lulled into peaceful darkness, flickers of light crackle forth from Eli's chants of wild certainty. Left alone in this whimsical wilderness, it can be admired and flourish. If spoiled, its ire could chase you from this sanctuary you’ve been graciously allowed to bask in.

(Photo from Eli Shane’s Website)

“Ghost” brings a tonal shift with wistful guitar melodies at the focal point of the piece. That hollowness from years of being a mere cog in the machine rolls like a dense fog from this track. I quite like the surge of frustration that gnaws at this existence as the rich further climb a ladder that none of us have access to. Despite its bubbling angst, what holds throughout is a chilly sense of melancholy that is both beautiful and entrancing.

The lead single “Liason” from All You’ll Be is Song released ahead of the album in May 2024. (Photo from Bandcamp)

Following the empty existence explored in the prior track, “Liason” reaches out to try and return form to an otherwise hollow existence. Continued monotonous chords amplify this constriction brought about by the drudgery of life. I do like how the song blooms into a brilliant glow as it comes to a close. The atmosphere is quite captivating; however, I do wish there were more form vocals beyond its half-sung/half-spoken tone.

“Being Unkind” paints a rather intense image of coping with a relationship’s demise. Eli’s magical harp playing warps and falters as his voice pivots from broken emptiness to quiet frustration. It sounds like a strangely beautiful unraveling. What I appreciate the most about the song is its calm, pained sorrow. For me, it evokes the feeling of wanting to fall to pieces after someone admits they don’t want to be with you anymore.

“Forget” untangles the bittersweet pangs of joy and sorrow that come from the memories of an ex-love. Eli’s voice hypnotically reverberates on the refrain like a spell that can erase all the heartache that came from the dissolution of this partnership. His playful percussive break in the second verse carries with it the influence of Fiona Apple’s later work. It’s nice to hear his mystical soundscape garner a bit of grit from these additions.

The final song and title track, “All You’ll Be is Song,” is a slow trickle of melancholic acceptance of this chapter’s closing. Shane drags each verse out, punctuated by slow, methodical plucked chords on his harp. For a project that appears to chronicle the formation and dissolution of a relationship, he uses this end piece to say that none of it was in vain. It was a growing experience now entombed in song.

Shane’s sophomore release filled a void I didn’t realize I was missing. His placid, calming voice is as inviting as Devendra Banhart’s, while his eclectic arrangements paint with the innocent wonder of Joanna Newsom, Sufjan Stevens, or even Björk. The album’s best moments are when Eli’s songwriting and production give his songs a stage-like realism. Where a wane a bit from his vision is when songs blur the lines between overt spoken word and hushed song, like on “Marksmen” or “Liason.”

Regardless, Eli’s experimentation was a dazzling experience to explore. It’s a solid release of psychedelic folk, freak-folk, and singer/songwriter elements that bring follow a relationship’s blossoming to its decay.

My overall thoughts on *All You’ll Be is Song*:

My rating scale: Love it = 1 point, Like it = 0.5 point, Dislike it = 0 points; Final score = total points/ number of tracks

Loved it: “Knowing Glaces,” “Westlands,” “My Certainty,” “Ghost,” “Being Unkind”

Liked it: “Overture,” “Marksmen,” “Forget,” “All You’ll Be is Song”

Disliked it: “Liason”

My overall rating: 7.0 out of 10.

Sources:

[embed]Eli Shane - Bio Bio. Eli Shane, a folk artist from New Yorkelishanemusic.com