Some songs aim for sonic perfection, adding layer upon layer, polishing every detail until there is nothing unpredictable left. On “Montreal (Feeling it All),” Esteban Obando takes the opposite approach, and that creative choice becomes the song’s defining strength. The single, which was released as the opening chapter of his Tiny Pieces of Tape Vol. 1 project, embraces the imperfections in recording analog with a sense of confidence and turns the limitations into an emotional advantage. This track was recorded entirely on a 1990s Tascam Portastudio 424mk1, the same four-track cassette recorder used by the late Elliott Smith on Roman Candle, and it has an intimacy that can be difficult to achieve in modern digital production. Obando writes, performs, records, and produces all aspects of his music himself, drawing on his experiences growing up between Colombia, Montreal, and Los Angeles for a heartfelt meditation on memory, identity, and longing. “Montreal (Feeling it All)” is a depiction of the emotional texture of remembering itself, inviting the listener to return to the places that continue to shape who they are long after they’ve left them behind.
It’s a love song about Montreal, but it also goes beyond geography. Obando tackles nostalgia with an invigorating frankness, not relying on sentimental clichés but on colorful sensory impressions and subtle emotional reflection. The lyrics imply that memory is hardly ever a straightforward recollection. It comes in pieces: a street you know, seasons that change, talks you forgot, and feelings that come back unannounced. The title, “Feeling it All,” itself captures this emotional abundance, the knowledge that the return to the past is often a matter of accepting joy, loss, gratitude, and melancholy all at once. Obando writes from a very personal perspective, but the feelings are still universally recognizable. The song probably speaks to anyone who has left a meaningful place or experienced the bittersweet passage of time. He doesn’t idealize the past but leaves it beautifully unfinished, giving the narrative a sense of authenticity rather than overromanticizing it.
The musical arrangement reinforces that sense of authenticity throughout. It’s a sparse production with just a handful of carefully chosen elements: a Fender Telecaster, a Nord Electro keyboard, double-tracked vocals, and a warm spring reverb made by a Moog Grandmother synth. Every instrument is part of the emotional heart of the piece, not a bid for attention. The lo-fi cassette recording adds a gentle imperfection that becomes part of the story. The edges are rounded out by tape saturation, and subtle background noises, like the faint bleed of a drum machine metronome, remind us that the sound is a real performance, captured in real time, not a heavily edited studio creation. The lack of overproduction makes for an extraordinary intimacy; it’s as if Obando were quietly performing in the next room. His singing, beefed up with tasteful Elliott Smith-inspired doubling, feels vulnerable without feeling fragile, and the emotional heft of the lyrics feels natural. The result is a warm, immediate, and profoundly human sound.
Certainly, you can hear Obando’s influences on the recording, but they never obscure his own artistic identity. There are hints of Elliott Smith’s fragile vocal harmonies, Sufjan Stevens’ self-reflective compositions, the subtle intimacy of José González, or the heartfelt honesty of Phoebe Bridgers and Adrianne Lenker in the music. But “Montreal (Feeling it All)” avoids the trap of imitation by grounding those influences in Obando’s lived experience. That he wants to record everything himself just further cements that individuality. Each guitar line, each keyboard passage, and each vocal harmony is a piece of a complete artistic vision, all created by one creative voice. Obando, a new dad balancing family duties and independent artistry, shows how creative constraints can be springboards for inspiration, not impediments. He eschews perfectionism and works within the constraints of analog so that spontaneity and emotional truth can be the focus of his music. The ethos gives the recording a sincerity that more complex production methods cannot easily manufacture.
In the end, “Montreal (Feeling it All)” works because it recognizes that authenticity often outweighs technical perfection. This is not a song that attempts to wow its listeners with big arrangements or dramatic emotional declarations. But rather, it gently guides them into a deeply personal memory, trusting that the minutest details tend to carry the heftiest emotion. The analog warmth, the stripped-down instrumentation, and the introspective lyrics all work together to create an ageless atmosphere despite the deliberate imperfections of the recording. The single is the first to be taken from Tiny Pieces of Tape Vol. 1, charting an aesthetic that is rooted in vulnerability, craftsmanship, and emotional truth. In an age where perfect production is often king in modern music, Esteban Obando reminds us that it is often in the cracks, imperfections, and quiet moments where the real beauty lies. Montreal (Feeling It All) is a heartfelt reminder that the places we leave behind are not gone but live within us, shaping our memories, our identities, and our sense of home, long after the journey has carried us somewhere new.
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