Jeffrey Silverstein’s new EP Roseway is named after the quiet, tree-lined neighborhood in Northeast Portland where the guitarist and songwriter lives. “My drive home from my teaching job is all uphill,” he says. “You kind of crest over this ridge to get to where you want to go. Every moment that happens to me, I just have this sense of ease once I get to the top.” That sense of relief–the feeling of completing a tough journey—animates the six relaxed and meditative songs here. While half of the tracks are pastoral ambient instrumentals and half are plainspoken lyrical numbers with ample twang and groove, each captures Silverstein’s striking comfort with his voice, his process, and his role as a bandleader. To him, these songs feel like home. It’s New Age for the everyman: more cosmic than country and more accessible than esoteric. This is what cosmic country sounds like in 2024. Recorded with Ryan Oxford (Y La Bamba, Rose City Band), Roseway boasts an eclectic and exploratory palate. Songs like the inviting and laid-back “Gassed Up” find Silverstein adding country-funk grooves over inviting, spaced-out lyrics. The vinyl version of Roseway features a b-side that includes the first pressing of Silverstein’s 2021 EP Torii Gates. Taken together, these two EPs feel like a bridge to each other: a document of an artist cresting the hill of his process and vision. It’s a record of contemplation and comfort, not of prescription and platitudes.