THE OVERLOOK CONFIRMS
DEBUT ALBUM
September 25, 2026—The Overlook today confirms its debut album, Say It, set for release on October 30 via Phenotypic Recordings—pre-order/pre-save here. The collection’s first single, “Say” by Shelly Washington, is out today—listen/share here. TRACKLIST
SAY IT
SET FOR OCTOBER 30
VIA PHENOTYPIC RECORDINGS
FIRST SINGLE “SAY”
OUT NOW — LISTEN HERE
Say It, The Overlook’s debut recording, is the joyful culmination of a project with early pandemic roots, when four New York-based musicians with suddenly empty calendars began meeting outdoors in Washington Heights to read through string quartets that had gone unheard or unperformed. Say It gathers six of those pieces that have stayed with the group ever since. Today’s Overlook comprises violinists Monica Davis and Yezu Woo, violist Angela Pickett, and cellist Laura Metcalf.
Across the record, the quartet returns to the impulse that first brought it together: putting weight behind music that hasn’t yet had its due. The six works span folk-rooted Americana, a tribute to an overlooked singer-songwriter, an autobiographical meditation on biracial identity, a cosmically inspired viola showcase, a probability-driven miniature and a three-movement response to the Great Migration—each its own statement of identity and resilience.
The collection’s first single, “Say,” by composer Shelley Washington is out now—listen here. The track opens with the quartet’s own voices and bodies—snapping, clapping and singing the couplet that gives the piece its title—before those gestures migrate into the instrumental writing itself. Washington wrote the piece out of her reflections on growing up Black and white, and The Overlook came to it through the composer’s mother, who, after hearing Metcalf perform another Washington work, suggested the group take on “Say,” a piece few ensembles had attempted.
The album opens with Trevor Weston’s Juba, which traces a line from African to African American musical traditions in honor of enslaved crop laborers. The Overlook has performed the piece so often that Weston ultimately rededicated it to the group.
Shanan Estreicher’s I Laughed So Hard I Cried, for Judee Sill grew out of “Overlooked No More,” a collaboration with the podcast Relevant Tones built around the New York Times obituary series of the same name, which revisits the lives of people whose deaths went unremarked in their own time. Sill, an American singer-songwriter active in the early-1970s folk-rock scene, died in relative obscurity in 1979, but her music has since found a devoted following, and her influence is widely audible in contemporary folk and indie songwriting. Rather than quote Sill directly, Estreicher channels her songwriting instincts and evident love of Bach into songlike, contrapuntal writing. Leila Adu-Gilmore’s “if the stars align…” entered the group’s repertoire after a 2021 performance at the Hispanic Society. Originally written for the Brentano String Quartet, the piece casts the viola as protagonist, and Pickett anchors its centerpiece with a run of ferocious, rolling chords. Forbes Graham’s Crossing, discovered through one of the group’s open calls on Instagram, is what the composer calls “a study in probabilities” built on “a combination of three cosine functions,” compressing sharp themes, forceful pizzicato and airy choruses into just four minutes. Closing the album, Carlos Simon’s Warmth from Other Suns takes its title from Isabel Wilkerson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the Great Migration, moving from the searching “Rays of Light” through the propulsive “Flight” to the settled calm of its final movement.
Taken together, Say It is more than a debut recording; it’s a document of the ensemble’s founding instinct, carried forward five years and dozens of unheard scores later. Each work stands on its own, yet together they trace a single throughline: The Overlook’s commitment to voices, old and new, that deserve to be heard.
ABOUT THE OVERLOOK
Based in New York City, the innovative string quartet, The Overlook, known for bold, imaginative programming, champions new compositions in the classical genre — transforming contemporary chamber music into a vivid, unforgettable experience. Praised as “breathtaking” by New York Music Daily, The Overlook features violinists Monica Davis and Yezu Woo, violist Angela Pickett, and cellist Laura Metcalf. The Overlook has appeared in performances and residencies nationwide, including recent engagements at series in Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico, and Tennessee. Formed during the pandemic to build community through music, the ensemble is committed to amplifying the voices of living composers and engaging audiences through performances that make contemporary chamber music both accessible and deeply compelling. For more information, visit theoverlookquartet.com.
ABOUT PHENOTYPIC RECORDINGS
Phenotypic Recordings brings to light new music by world-class musicians and innovative composers, with a focus on music that highlights the most important issues facing the world today. Artists include Kronos Quartet, Osvaldo Golijov, Kenji Bunch, MoVE (Modern Violin Ensemble), W4RP and more. As another way of amplifying artistic voices, Phenotypic Recordings donates revenue from streaming and downloads to support humanitarian causes identified by the artists making the music. For more information on the label and artists visit phenotypicrecordings.com.
For more information, please contact
Krista Williams, Christopher Emond or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000.
SAY IT
1. Trevor Weston—Juba
2. Shanan Estreicher—I Laughed So Hard I Cried, for Judee Sill
3. Shelley Washington—Say
4. Leila Adu-Gilmore—“if the stars align…”
I. Shooting Stars
II. La Terra
III. Sirian Highlife
Cadenza: Blue Companion Star
IV. Digitaria
5. Forbes Graham—Crossing
6. Carlos Simon—Warmth from Other Suns
I. Rays of Light
II. Flight
III. Settle
