False Priest is the solo project of Evan Greenwald, singer/songwriter with the Bay Area band Handshake. “Uncanny Valley” was recorded over 3 days in August ’12, when Greenwald was just 19 years old and was partially funded by a $600 Kickstarter campaign.

Harder edged than Handshake, False Priest showcases Greenwald’s genre-hopping songwriting backed by solid musicianship of the band, Sam Forester on bass guitar, Josh Herman on drums, and Olaf Selland on lead guitar. The strength of his songwriting allows Greenwald to effortlessly move between rock to folk and even country. As an accomplished writer with many publications to his credit, it is no surprise that his lyrics are as thoughtful as his melodies. On Uncanny Valley, Greenwald writes about the struggles people go through to be self aware. The narrator of lead-off track “False Priest” has no idea that his anger has driven him to stop making sense, “You Hang Lights From Yr Neck” begins as a confrontation and ends as a confession, and in “Rapid Eye Movement,” the speaker of the song tries to convince himself he is not existentially alone.

The album was recorded live to tape, with only the guitars on one song and the vocals laid down as overdubs. However, their live shows take it to another level with Greenwald’s kinetic and contagious stage presence.

Novato is the first single from the upcoming album which will be released in January and launched at a CD release party at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on January 5th.

False Priest’s lineup is a mix of West Coast and East Coast members, due to Greenwald’s bi-coastal lifestyle and include the aforementioned Sam Forester, Josh Herman, Olaf Selland as well as East Coast members Sam Wipf and Eli Ben Yaacov.