A live-to-tape session shapes the second single from Blind Love, premiering on Retrofuturista
Eddie Skuller publishes a version of “You Can Never Hold Back Spring,” a Tom Waits song known for its quieter register within a catalog more often associated with grit. The track is the second single from the Jersey City songwriter’s four-track EP “Blind Love,” following the earlier release of “Downtown Train.” The song becomes available across digital platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp, on July 29th, ahead of the EP’s full release on August 26th.
Artist: Eddie Skuller
Release Date: 2026-08-26
Genres: Americana, Folk
Description: Eddie Skuller covers Tom Waits' "You Can Never Hold Back Spring," recorded live to tape with Nick Kinsey, out July 29th on Blind Love.
Featured image: © Erez Sabag
The recording was made live to tape, without edits or vocal overdubs, with Skuller‘s voice captured alongside the band in the room. Producer Nick Kinsey, whose credits include work with Kevin Morby, Waxahatchee and Scott McMickey, oversaw the session. Skuller has said he sought out Kinsey specifically for his familiarity with analog warmth, and that the songs took on the character of meditative dirges in the process, with the lyrics reading, in his words, as poetry. Skuller’s vocal, delivered with restraint and quiet conviction, brings a rare intimacy to the song.
Skuller’s vocal, delivered with restraint and quiet conviction, brings a rare intimacy to the song.”
The band assembled for the track includes Ryder Cooley of the Dust Bowl Faeries on accordion, Kinsey on drums and keyboards, Jack Skuller on guitars, and Jeremy Chatzky, known for his work with Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle and Ronnie Spector, on bass.
Skuller points to a specific line in the song, “even though you’ve lost your way, the world is dreaming, dreaming of spring,” as central to its pull, comparing its treatment of renewal and hope to the register of jazz-pop standards such as Sinatra’s “Young at Heart.”
The accompanying music video originated from a connection made on social media. Skuller came across the Tom Waits editorial work of artist Sandrine Pagnoux for 46pgs magazine and began following her and photographer/editor Sophie Etchart, who together run SPX ETC. The video combines collage, illustration, photography, typography and animation; Pagnoux built the artwork from Etchart‘s photography, and Etchart assembled and finished the piece. Manipulated self-portraits of Skuller appear throughout, produced through Pagnoux‘s process. Pagnoux has described the cover as carrying “deep feelings,” and characterized the song’s lyrics as concerned with joy and renewal following periods of darkness.
Beyond his solo output, Skuller performs regularly as a guest vocalist with The Losers Lounge, the tribute series curated by Joe McGinty of The Psychedelic Furs, held at Joe’s Pub and City Winery in New York.
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