Island songwriter Tristan Israel’s latest album Snake Hollow will be celebrated at an album release party at PathwaysArts this Saturday.

Snake Hollow is Mr. Israel’s fourth album and covers a variety of topics, from the Holocaust to Franz Kafka, astrolabes and monarch butterflies.

“I like to keep the listener on their toes,” Mr. Israel said.

Mr. Israel grew up outside of New York City. He said his youth was filled with music, both at home and as part of the folk and rock scenes in the city.

“I was raised in a family that valued all kinds of music so I was exposed at an early age to everything from Broadway shows to classical music to Ray Charles and Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald,” he said.

When writing songs, he said the words usually come before melody.

“I consider most of my songs [as] really poetry that’s set to music,” Mr. Israel said. “My mother brought me up with poetry and I work very hard to craft my words.”

He is looking forward to sharing his new album with listeners.

“I hope they enjoy it and that it stimulates them from a thought point of view,” he said.

Though the album has a staggered release date, with digital release planned for March, Mr. Israel wanted to plan an event for Islanders specifically.

“The Island is my home and even if the big releases don’t come until later I wanted to do something here,” he said.

Tristan Israel’s album release party begins at 7 p.m. on Nov. 16 at PathwaysArts, located at 9 State Road in Chilmark.