Review: Cameron Winter - Live At Carnegie Hall

Aidan Greenlee

Cameron Winter is an interesting character. Listen to any interview of his and he seems like the most aloof rock star of all time. But at the same time he's putting his whole heart into some of the most interesting music being released right now. Heavy Metal, his debut LP, was released in December of 2024, and along with Geese's 2025 record Getting Killed, propelled him and his band to indie stardom.

His latest album, Live at Carnegie Hall, is a recording of a performance that was filmed for the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson concert film. It's just him on piano in front of an eager audience, who couldn't be more excited to hear him wail as he tickles the ivories. At times, you can hear his voice go in and out as if he's rocking toward the mic. On The Rolling Stones, his soft piano playing slows to a silent crawl as he twinkles his right hand up the upper register of the piano, which gets a few (perhaps unnecessary) whoops and laughter from the crowd. At times throughout the album I'm reminded of Tom Waits's earlier, more intimate performances, or of Rodriguez's Cold Fact.

There are a handful of new tracks on the album, some that he had released on his Singles EP, and others that are new to this release. Emperor XIII in Shades is a new song and easily meets the expectations that he set on Heavy Metal, with poetic lyrics like "I don't like what happened to Jesus, but I sure like Saturday morning". This song continues his somewhat ironic fascination with Jesus that comes to a head on $0, the longest track on the album, where he crescendos into shouts of "God is real, God is real, I'm not kidding, God is actually real."

While most of the songs lend themselves well to a simple piano accompaniment, some of my favorite tracks from Heavy Metal, like Love Takes Miles seem to be missing something without the swelling strings. Other songs, like Cancer of the Skull sound better than ever despite the lack of guitar and clarinet. The quiet moments are quieter than ever and the peaks are more dramatic and passionate.

Overall, I find this album's intimate sound and excellent production to be an improvement on the impressive sound Winter put forth on his debut, and I'm as eager as ever to hear what's next for him on his follow-up record. He certainly isn't slowing down.

Favorite Tracks:

• It All Fell in the River
• Try as I May
• Emperor XIII in Shades
• Cancer of the Skull
• Nina + Field of Cops
• $0
• Take It With You