The Hands Free - Upturned Cup

The Hands Free

Upturned Cup

On Friday, May 29, 2026, the whimsical acoustic quartet, The Hands Free releases their sophomore record, Upturned Cup via New Amsterdam Records. The quartet brings together the creative voices of composer/performers James Moore (guitar & banjo), Caroline Shaw (violin), Nathan Koci (accordion), and Eleonore Oppenheim (bass).

Following their 2018 self-titled release, Upturned Cup sees the all-star quartet return with 8 new compositions that blur the lines between chamber music, jazz improvisation, and folk music, while maintaining a sense of playfulness and joy stemming from over a decade of their collective music making.

The music on Upturned Cup offers different snapshots of the group at various phases of their creative process. Four compositions on this album (Chrysalis, Roommate of the Year, On That Specific Pillow, Nocturne Vulgaire) were conceived not long after the release of their first record, during an idyllic residency at Antenna Cloud Farm, and have since evolved over the course of several performances. The remaining four compositions were developed almost entirely in the studio. Says Moore: “Bringing in simple sketches, we slowly worked up the material with the microphone and the crew as our audience. We frequently toggled between various tunes so we could listen back and return to them with fresh ears and hearts.”

Out Now: “Upturned Cup”

The opening layered phrases of the title track “Upturned Cup” push forth a sense of playful energy that can be felt throughout the album. Oppenheim’s pulsing pedal point serves as a rhythmic anchor for fiddle, banjo, and accordion to dance circles around each other as the players spin out melodic fragments, intercut with wordless ooo’s and aaa’s. Penned by Moore, the song’s title was lifted from a poem by 20th century poet Lola Ridge, in which she describes pouring out a dream amidst a landscape of chaos and disorder.

Guitarist James Moore explains, “Upturned Cup is a portrait of a group of friends who have been playing together as a quartet for over 10 years. We first began collaborating in various combinations as gigging musicians in New York. Playing together in a variety of professional contexts, we often found the most joy from scrappy late night folk jams. I was interested in starting an acoustic group with which I could explore a range of styles and scratch my itch for improvisational structures. I brought in a stack of sketches which spanned a range of graphic notation, poetic allusions, and chord charts as well as standard western notation. We slowly developed a process of creating compositions that are minimally notated and collaboratively developed, resulting in tunes which have many defined elements but leave ample room for spontaneity and improvisation.”
The opening layered phrases of the title track “Upturned Cup” push forth a sense of playful energy that can be felt throughout the album. Oppenheim’s pulsing pedal point serves as a rhythmic anchor for fiddle, banjo, and accordion to dance circles around each other as the players spin out melodic fragments, intercut with wordless ooo’s and aaa’s. Penned by Moore, the song’s title was lifted from a poem by 20th century poet Lola Ridge, in which she describes pouring out a dream amidst a landscape of chaos and disorder.
Inspired by a camping hammock at the Antenna Cloud Farm, “Chrysalis” opens with an inquisitive line in unison that slowly starts to phase between the accordion and guitar as vocal and fiddle pads begin to fill out the texture. As the piece develops, Oppenheim’s compositional language makes use of small modular cells that can be superimposed and expanded to build up an organic world carried by a sense of urgency and momentum until it all dissolves into a single voice doubling the opening line.
Written before a lesson with saxophone legend Tim Berne, "Roommate of the Year” places The Hands Free within an infectiously catchy groove circling Berne-esque angular melodies and irregular rhythms before breaking into a collective free improvisation. Koci explains, “It’s probably one of the most aggressive compositions of mine to date, and is incredibly fun to play in an acoustic environment. James’ slide shredding is absolutely perfect, and it offers some fun sudden shifts in direction that really feature The Hands Free’s nimbleness.”
“On That Specific Pillow,” sees Moore finding inspiration from a short poem by Emily Dickinson which was written on a scrap of paper from an envelope. Moore tells us: “this short sketch describes sleep, dreams, a respite from the trials and ambitions of life.” The piece features a bass solo by Oppenheim with the ensemble playing a full, yet delicate, texture to leave ample room for Oppenheim’s bass to soar.
“Frost” captures both the cold and cozy feelings one might associate with a winter frost. written by Oppenheim as a set of short musical phrases to be looped and explored, the Hands Free explore subtle textures that fall like a calm snow. Shaw’s voice closes the song as the harmonic motion of Oppenheim’s phrase comes to a soft pause.
The volatile barnburner, “Nocturne Vulgaire,” with its bursting melodic figures, eerie wordless vocals, and relentless groove takes inspiration from a Rimbaud poem depicting a wild and dangerous hallucinatory dream. Of the low guitar tuning Moore tells us, “Nathan had once brought in a folk tune named ‘Lovely Jenny’ which had me tuning my guitar down super low to get this low G in the bass. I wanted to write a tune that used that same tuning for both practical purposes and because we originally played a really beautiful delicate song with it and I liked the idea of doing something a little nastier with it.”
Koci’s “Zender,” with its meditative exploration of blooming chords and textures, is dedicated to colleague and friend, Rick Zender. Koci explains, “Rick ran an unlikely museum in Charleston, SC that housed a vast collection of historical sound and recording equipment. Rick knew the collection inside and out and gave tours to elementary school students during the day. By night, Rick used the rooms of the museum to host concerts by musical and sound artists in Charleston, from tin-pan alley ukulele bands to deeply experimental sound art. He was an omnivorous and enthusiastic curator, listener, and sound-maker.”
“First Train to Glasgow” closes out the album capturing a chaotic and joyful jam on a simple melody. Koci tells us: “I wrote this tune in a notebook on the first train of the day from London to Glasgow one summer’s day. The Hands Free rallied around creating an arrangement for it, and made it thrash more than I expected in a way that I absolutely adore. Eleonore Oppenheim eats the bass alive in this one, and I’m lucky to be in a band with her.”

Tracklist and Credits
1. Upturned Cup
2. Chrysalis
3. Roommate of the Year
4. On That Specific Pillow
5. Frost
6. Nocturne Vulgaire
7. Zender
8. First Train to Glasgow
Produced by James Moore & The Hands Free
All compositions by The Hands Free: Nathan Koci (ASCAP), James Moore (BMI), Eleonore Oppenheim (BMI), Caroline Shaw (ASCAP)
Recorded by Sascha von Oertzen & Andy Taub at Brooklyn Recording
Recording Assistant: Samuel Wahl
Mixed by Sascha von Oertzen
Mastered by Josh Bonati, Bonati Mastering NYC
Still lIfe and photography by Dagmara Lauk
Cups by Sarah Sims, Dry Creek Studio
Album design by Eva Imber & Deirdre Jernigan
Thank you Lainie Fefferman, Jascha Narveson, & Alicia Hall Moran
This publication is made possible in part by the Barr Ferree Foundation Fund for Publications, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University.