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Jun 27, 2024 By Caleb Campbell

Mistaken for Wayne is the project of singer/songwriter Wade Montpellier. Montpellier first debuted with a pair of singles in 2020, tracing pastoral and meditative folk narratives drawn from his life working on a farm in rural Ontario. He returned earlier this year with his new singles, “Red Lake” and “Finding Flowers,” which were taken from his forthcoming debut EP, This Time of Year. The full EP is out later this week on June 28th, and today Montpellier is back with a new single, “I Can See My House From Here,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“I Can See My House From Here” operates at a simmering slow burn, with Montpellier largely accompanied by soft and steady percussion, simple acoustic chords, and understated, whispering keys. The track remains in this mode until its finale, which rushes forth atop windswept drum fills and swelling synths. The results are intimate and hypnotic, matching the track’s steady pacing with elliptical, homespun lyricism: “I can see my house from here / I can see my house from here / This time of year / I can see my dog from here / I can see my dog from here / This time of year.”

The track lives within a duality. It finds Montpellier looking back in a wistful reverie, but the track always retains a distance between Montpellier and home. He can see his house, but he doesn’t enter. These themes of place and the passage of time become recurring reflections on This Time of Year. As Montpellier explains, “This Time of Year is the first passage of a new Mistaken for Wayne chapter. The project was on pause for four years, and this new music reflects what’s been building throughout that time. My return to Northern Ontario inspired this EP, referencing a deep sense of place and connection to my new but familiar environment - something drastically different from a past city life. Witnessing the surrounding beauty that is quintessential to the northern countryside, this piece is based on observations from a now slower life that is connected to nature.”

Check out the song and accompanying video below. The This Time of Year EP is out everywhere on June 28th.