Few bands can claim that they’re race-car driver approved; Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr was one of them. They got Dale Earnhardt Jr’s attention because, obviously, they used his name. He wrote to Daniel Zott and Joshua Epstein in 2011, promising no legal action against the duo and describing himself as a fan. But now, they’ve moved on, and rebranded themselves as JR JR.
Which brings us to their first release under the new name: The self-titled JR JR, a euphoric, smoothly produced pop album. And while my cynical hipster heart hates the idea that anything so anthemic and catchy can be good, it balances its commercial appeal with enough introspective moments that I’m not ashamed it’s been stuck in my head all day.
Take “In The Middle,” for example. It’s an infectious dance track, but with gloomy under tones. “There’s a million ways to die,” they proclaim early in the song. Instead of singing about burning up the dance floor, they’re “standing in the fire,” their indecision rendering them “stuck to the floor.” Usually, name-based tracks are sappy love (or breakup) songs, but not JR JR‘s “Caroline,” which takes place in a hospital. And though you can imagine a stadium of fans pumping their fists and singing along to the chorus of “No one’s going to live my life for me” and “I don’t want to be you,” the verses reveal a more complicated situation as they ask, “How can I tell if it’s drugs or my feelings now?” and hint at a drastic change of identity.
Unfortunately, there’s no word yet from Dale Earnhardt Jr on his opinion of the duo’s new name and album; we probably won’t know until it’s released on September 25 via Warner Bros. Records. In the meantime, check out JR JR’s creepy-cool music video for one of the album’s key tracks, “Gone,” where dancers’ legs detach from their owners and run wild.
Leapling is a three-piece, experimental pop band from Brooklyn. Their last album was the February 2015 release Vacant Page: Ten misleadingly lighthearted tracks punctuated by the soft vocals and pleasantly dissonant guitar of Dan Arnes, the band’s leader. Before Leapling recently left on a short tour, he answered some questions about their upcoming album, musical influences, and how we should label their music, anyway.
AudioFemme: What can you tell me about your upcoming album? When’s the release date?
Dan Arnes: It’s almost completely done. It’s pretty tight but I think we’ll make our date…pretty soon.
I can’t share the name just yet, although if you look in the liner notes of Vacant Page you may find a hint or two. It’s definitely different from Vacant Page: A lot more direct and punchy, not quite as cryptic and tonally, it couldn’t be more different.
We’re trying to find a director for the first single’s music video now, actually. I loved doing the video for “Crooked,” but unfortunately don’t have the bandwidth this time around. That was super fun and rewarding, but very time consuming. Next time.
AF: You recently tweeted, “Writing string arrangements is challenging and time consuming in ways I did not anticipate.” Are you using samples or live arrangements for the strings on the new album?
DA: All live arrangements. I’m writing for a string quartet on a few songs on this new record so it’s pretty prominent. I had strings in mind for these newbies right from the get go this time around. It’s very much part of the songs they’re on. There’s more standard rock stuff on the record too. It’s one big hodgepodge stylistically.
AF: What guitarists have the biggest influence on your playing?
DA: I like all kinds of guitar players, but some of my faves are Jim O’Rourke, John Dietrich, Lou Reed, Cornelius, Arto Lindsay, Sonny Sharrock, Jeff Tweedy, Syd Barrett and Tom Verlaine; People who mix the more interesting rhythmic, chordal stuff with the more angular, dissonant side of things. That’s very much what I respond to in music in general.
AF: Leapling played Palisades on 8/28 and 8/30- do you have a favorite NYC or Brooklyn venue?
DA: Love Palisades but Shea Stadium is my spot. We go way back with them. Adam, Nora & Luke have been at it for so long and do it so well. We actually recorded this upcoming record at (the Shea Stadium founder) Adam Reich’s studio.
AF: Do you have any gigs you’re especially looking forward to on your tour?
DA: Yeah, we have a bunch of really good ones. I’m particularly excited to do [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Hopscotch Music Festival] this year. We’re playing with Pile, Mitski and our awesome local pal SMLH.
We always have a blast in DC- the house show scene there is pretty great. Atlanta is cool too, and we’re pals with a lot of awesome bands in New Orleans. There’s some good stuff coming out of there.
AF: If you had to come up with a new genre to describe your music, what would you call it?
DA: I really should do this… it’d save me a lot of time after people ask “What would you call your music?” I call it noisy pop, weirdo pop… I’m pretty bad at this, it’s all pop to me.
Leapling Tour Dates:
9/09: Richmond, VA – Strange Matter 9/10: William & Mary College (Williamsburg, VA) 9/11: Hopscotch Music Festival (Raleigh, NC) 9/12: Raleigh, NC – TBA 9/13: NC State University – WKNC house show 9/14: College Park, MD 9/15: New Brunswick, NJ – Nowhere, USA 9/16: Brooklyn, NY – Shea Stadium
Detroit is a perplexing musical playground. From the greats of Motown all the way down to (like, rock bottom level down) king of the trailer park Kid Rock and his pasty, ornery 8 Mile loving opposition, Eminem to minimalistic power duo, The White Stripes and that guy selling a surprisingly fire rap demo in the gas station parking lot, the fabric of Detroit’s musical reputation is eclectic and strange; a fitting categorization. But what often gets overlooked is Detroit’s unbreakable continuing history of women in music. While compiling this list of friends, virtual unknowns, and local legends, I found I was overcoming my own poorly formed belief that Detroit was deficient in powerful female influence. Detroit is ferociously defined by the voice, talent, and unwavering sense of “Yeah, I got this” best demonstrated by these babes. The collection of women below share in their uncompromisingly daring expressions of self which in turn is a reflection of Detroit’s maverick spirit.
Jax Anderson, lead queen, is a powerhouse. Unsigned rockers, Flint Eastwood are on to something. Slinking rock-revivalist vibes tinged with Sleater-Kinney moments and vocal ferociousness that could give Alison Mosshart a run for her money, Flint Eastwood makes The Black Keys sound like watered down elementary school karaoke.
Married electro punk duo ADULT. fronted by Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller, is Detroit’s answer to Devo, Romeo Void, and Wall of Voodoo without ever feeling like an imitation. First assembled in 1998, ADULT. is an obscure and active staple and in many ways a pioneer in the formation of Detroit’s current synth punk scene.
Formed in 1997 by Amy Gore, The Gore Gore Girls are one of the cities most influential psych-punk bands. Fittingly named after a 70’s splatter flick, The Gore Gore Girls have toured as support to The Cramps and have played festivals with The Stooges, The Strokes, and The Zombies. Over the course of ten years and three albums, they’ve managed to maintain their psychedelic, raised-from-the-dead sound that continue to set the stage for some of the other ladies on this list.
4. SUZI QUATRO “IF YOU CAN’T GIVE ME LOVE”
https://youtu.be/L0uWVw4aBxY
Detroit’s under credited queen of rock is as much of an influence today as she was when she hit the scene back in 1972. Although not the first of her kind, Quatro paved the way for girls who could hang with the boys by crafting a subdued androgynous persona on stage and a roaring rock sound behind the mic. Considered one of the first female bassists to break through in the boys game of rock n’ roll, Quatro remains one of Detroit’s baddest women of rock.
Singer Rachelle Baker and producer Nick Marrow make up Little Animal, a dreamy duo responsible for the sexiest music in town. Smoothly assembled, celestial textured electronic beats that could be easily be the love child of Erykah Badu and Bjork.
Ruth Synowiec fronts Mexican Knives, a buzzy, lo-fi blues rock band with biting bass lines and pulsing surf punk undertones. Alongside guitarist Zach Weedon and drummer Blair Wills, Synowiec vocals are a perfect counterpart to their Brian Jonestown Massacre tendencies. She may have told The Detroit Metro Times last year that she “has no idea what she’s doing” although endearing, it’s clear that she’s wrong.
Asia Mock, Sarah Stawski, and T.J Grech are Pretty Ghouls, an angsty, raw nerve punk trio that is undoubtedly one of the hardest, fuzziest newcomers to come out of Detroit in recent years. Unapologetic, Pretty Ghouls channel Detroit god Iggy Pop through their own “fuck you” filter, which makes sense considering Mock told Detroit’s Metro Times in 2012 that she wants to be the first, black female Iggy Pop. “I just want to scream in people’s faces and maybe get to rub my vagina on something in public.”
Jessica Hernandez is a Detroit darling to the max. One of our cities most beloved female acts, Hernandez (and The Deltas, respectively) have birthed their own breed of soul/pop that is as sugary as it sexy. Colorfully confident arrangements paired with Hernandez’s signature saccharine vulnerability makes for some of Detroit’s grooviest pop.
9. CHEERLEADER “QUENCHED”
Flint-based Cheerleader, comprised of Nisa, Polly, and Ashley, is a muddy, gritty Nirvana-demo sounding trio who unabashedly thrash lyrics like “Little boys with big dicks/we need a cure for it” over messily effective compositions. Although Cheerleader doesn’t have a large collection of songs, they are a defiant presence in the Michigan underground.
10. EL DEE “HEAVEN HELP ME”
Lauren Deming, or El Dee, leads a group of friends/musicians into a jazzy throwback dreamscape all her own. Rich and pure, Deming’s vocals are breathy, yet challenging. Without a rigid commitment to an era niche, El Dee manages to fuse Gershwin-esque standards with contemporary arrangement not unlike Amy Winehouse or Jon Brion, with avoiding sounding like a “fusion” artist.
Our girl Jojee is back with a sultry track “Unravel Me” and we get to share it with you first. The moody number invokes the same sensuality as a candle-lit stoned shower, smoke and steam obscurring skin on skin. The “future soul” artist has a kaleidoscope of sounds that all zoom into the same focal point claimed by R&B in the 2015 musical landscape. Relax and allow yourself to come undone with the latest – “Unravel Me” slows things down to the tempo you want to bath in every beat.
Indulge in the heady high of “Unravel Me” below. The song is produced by Mickey Valen.
Jesse R. Berlin is a mysterious man. A lovely and talented one, but a tough cookie to crack. His debut album Glitter Lung is a sonic adventure of disco and glam rock, rumored to have been created while he was holed up in a studio embracing insomnia. Not only do we have the premiere of his music video for “Wash Your Boat!” but also a bizarre interview for you to enjoy. The video features a well-placed banana and appears to have been influenced by silent films, nature documentaries, and early 80s gangster films, if said gangsters were into karaoke. Before you watch it, enjoy an interview between Jesse R. Berlin and AudioFemme’s Managing Editor, about his dream woman, the feminist bookstore from Portlandia, and the importance of listening to an entire record.
Sophie Saint Thomas: So what do you do when you can’t sleep?
Jesse R. Berlin: Uh…I don’t sleep? There’s actually one thing that works pretty consistently and it’s so specific and weird. But so Hulu Plus, they have the Criterion Collection, or most of it, streaming. And you know who Ozu is, Yasujirō Ozu? He was a Japanese filmmaker for the 30s, 40s, 50s, early 60s. And his movies are…like the most slow-moving, glacial, kind of plotless but gorgeous and moving things. He made like 80 movies, and they all have the same plot. The plot is about an old father figure set in his ways dealing with a young child who wants to live with the kids! So you don’t have to really pay attention. So I watch one of his things with the sound off and inevitably it works at some point.
ST: I was reading your bio and from what I can tell at least the insomnia part is real! Tell me about making the album Glitter Lung. Did it take three years? Were you sleeping?
JB: Yeah, yeah, that’s all true, and I wasn’t sleeping.
ST: Your process reminded me of a certain David Bowie era where he wasn’t sleeping much while recording…
JB: Well there’s the famous thing where he was making Station to Station right? And he was in like Beverly Hills. And he was just like living off of cocaine and milk. The great quote is something like “I know we made it in LA because that’s what it says on the cover.”
ST: Do you relate to that at all?
JB: I can, [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][although] I was consuming a lot more than milk.
ST: I heard you consume Gatorade and Milk.
JB: Well, that was like a one off thing. I’m not really big on Gatorade in general.
ST: What do you like to drink?
JB: Depends on the time of the day. I like coffee. I like a cocktail that seems like it required a lot of effort to make. Like an Old Fashioned, or a Whiskey Sour, that kind of thing.
ST: So a whiskey drinker?
JB: Yeah whiskey is pretty good. Not much of a beer drinker.
ST: I don’t drink booze anymore because it make me an asshole. I just smoke.
JB: See, that’s exactly the opposite for me. That’s so interesting. It’s really interesting how different people’s brains react to things. I can’t really do weed. I was just at the West Coast on tour, and there was like one person at every show that was like “Hey, you want to come get high?” and I think it was off-putting. I think I lost fans by saying that.
ST: Oh yeah, maybe. I feel like I’ve lost friends by not drinking anymore. So on your tour, what did you think of Portland?
JB: Portland? It was the worst show of the tour. By a pretty wide margin. I had a heckler that I had to deal with.
ST: I thought people in Portland were supposed to be nice.
JB: Yeah! I know, right. Some asshole. But the food was great, and I did try the coffee. The coffee was phenomenal. But it’s not as mythical as Portlandia will have you believe. The show was actually right next door to the feminist book store from Portlandia.
ST: I did not know that was a real place!
JB: Yeah! I tweeted something about it, not using their name just like the phrase “feminist bookstore from Portlandia.” And they found me and Tweeted back to me and were like, “Welcome! Feminism is for everybody.”
ST: That’s unbelievable. So I wanted to ask, is it true you have a wife named Misty?
JB: Yes. Well, ex-wife.
ST: Ex-wife? Have you thought about telling everyone she’s your sister? Do the brother/sister duo?
JB: Isn’t that kind of played?
ST: Yeah. So what is your dream woman like?
JB: Oh god. I try not to actually engage with that thought process. I think you sort of just got to take people as they are. It’s just about whether or not it works, right? It’s not about some kind of standard. If it’s too much about standards then nothing’s going to work out. And not just [romantically] but with anything you do.
ST: So about Glitter Lung. I played the single “How DidYouSleepLadyKite” to a friend, who said he didn’t get it. Then he listened to the whole album, and went “Okay now I get it.” What do you think of that? Is the album meant to be heard as a cohesive experience?
JB: I think that is correct. Online singles culture, I don’t like it. You have to participate in it. Well, I guess you you don’t have to, but it’s beneficial to participate in it. But you know, it’s like… did you see that movie American Ultra?
ST: No.
JB: Do you know about it? As a pot smoker you would love it. It’s like Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart and they’re pot heads, and the government is after them. So the advertising campaign for this movie made it seem like it was going to be Pineapple Express, which I loved, and that was kind of what I was going to see it for. It wasn’t at all – it was like True Romance.
ST: Really? I love True Romance.
JB: Of course you do, that movie is amazing. And this movie was really good too. But you would never know that unless you saw the whole thing. And even like the first few scenes are like of a totally different tone. It sort of starts going in one direction and then pivots and gets super interesting. And I feel like listening to one song out of the context of a whole thing is just like seeing the ad campaign or like the first scene of a movie. Hopefully it’s enough to entice you, but it’s not going to make – at least for a record that’s like, a record, it’s not going to make a full thing, which is what I was trying to do. You have to do the whole thing. And that one song especially…how do I put it…that’s like the most Ween-like thing on the record. You know, but it’s not like a comedy record. It’s good as a single, but [my music] is about the whole thing. So I totally get how it worked for that guy.
ST: What is a Glitter Lung?
JB: It’s a fake disease that elementary school teachers and drag queens both joke about getting, where you inhale so much glitter that is slices up your lungs from the inside. And it kills you. I think it came to prominence as an Onion article.
ST: I love it. I hear your live shows are interesting.
JB: Yeah, they are interesting. What am I going for…Well, I’ve been doing this for a while, right? This is not my first rodeo. I think there’s something about playing in bands or doing singer/songwriting things where you know if you’re out there doing it, you play on all these bills with all these other people who sound pretty much exactly the same way you sound. There’s really nothing all that special or interesting about any of them, or about you, except that you know it’s varying degrees of quality. So I got fed up with that. I wanted to see if there was something I could do that nobody else could do. Whether or not it’s good, and I think it is very good – by virtue of being different. Because ultimately the thing that makes it work good for anybody is that little kernel of you. The person that shines through, right? So it was just about shaving away all the parts that weren’t that. So that it just could be that. But then you also need to protect yourself in some way. So a lot of people protect themselves by playing guitar, or looking at their pedals, or something like that. And it’s not very fun to watch. It’s very boring to watch. So I don’t play any instruments on stage. I exist as myself and I think that’s what comes across. There are scripted moments, or canned moments, which are the same sort of protection, but I think a lot more engaging.
ST: So what can we expect on your album release show at Standard Toykraft on the 11th?
JB: I mean I don’t want to spoil too much of it. Unlike many musical performances I would say it’s a character driven performance. There is a lot of character building and world building involved in that performance. I have pre-recorded stage banter.
ST: (laughs)
JB: Yes, that is the correct response to that. My ex-wife is in the show and Josh, my personal assistant is also in the show. They’re supportive presences. Not nessesarily like emotionally supportive, but just structurally supportive. There’a a surprise cover. I like to think of myself as a student of the masters, so I spend a lot of time watching Elvis performances, Prince performances. I hope that I’m not engaging in mimicry, as much as I am part of a lineage.
It’s Labor Day. The end of summer, time for last call and make outs with the friend you’ve been eyeing all these hot months. Our Track of the Week “Midnight Man” is the new single from NYC-based Controller. With layers of synths and resulting smile upon smile, this song is all about having a good time and enjoying the moment. It’s the third single from Controller’s sophomore release, the No Future EP.
Jon Bellinger (Controller‘s frontman) says the song is: “A shameless club banger, but sung from the perspective of someone you would never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever even consider going home with. Like, he thinks he’s really smooth but he’s the only one not in on how ridiculous he is, and it’s getting closer and closer to last call.” With that, take a listen and go forth.
After an abundance of changes, Widowspeak is now two. Molly Hamilton and Rob Earl Thomas did what all Brooklyn artists dream of doing, and rambled on to the Catskills where they live with a pup dog. They took their time in creating All Yours, an album appropriately about “moving on.” While they’ve moved on, they’ve kept what’s gold, working with tried and true Jarvis Taveniere, who produced their self-titled debut in 2011, and drummer Aaron Neveu.
The album opens with the title track that sounds exactly as my fantasy of fleeing the city for nature with a lover should. Their slow-paced blend of folk and shoegaze creates a sensation of nostalgia and rooted observation. On “Stoned” Molly exhales the drug that is love “…and I felt stoned…” Things pick up and crawl a little deeper to your heart on “Borrowed World” when Rob laments, “I know that I should pay attention, but I never paid any mind.” Rob rarely shares his voice; the addition of his vocals round up the listening experience. “Living in a borrowed world – with you.” On All Yours the two let us into their world via a cohesive and comforting album that’s as delightfully irreverent as it is insightful.
Blank Realm possesses their own unique energy no matter what genre a song of theirs lands in. And on their new album, Illegals In Heaven, the Brisbane siblings go through a few right away: There’s the opener “No Views,” which captures the scrappy, organized chaos of punk, followed by the shinier, dancier “River of Longing.” Then comes the hazy slide guitar of “Cruel Night,” which borrows from Beggars Banquet-era Rolling Stones. “Gold” is a quieter, gentler track that still maintains an edge: “If you slow me down, I’ll break your heart.”
So, it’s not so obvious what makes Blank Realm’s sound unique to them, but it can be found somewhere in theheaviness of their guitars and rhythms, and a tight sound that must come either from constant rehearsal- their label’s website boasts that they’ve played over 200 live performances with bands like Kurt Vile, Wild Flag, and Zola Jesus – or maybe the fact that three out of four of the members are siblings and are naturally in tune with each other. Their songwriting isn’t derivative or sentimental but aggressively nostalgic. You can hear their influences, but they don’t glibly copy them on Illegals In Heaven. They take what they know and like, and apply it in a very straightforward, in-your-face way. Because, like they sing on “Flowers In Mind:” “When every move you’re gonna make has been made/When every trick you’re gonna play has been played,” what else can a band do?”
Key Tracks: “No Views,” “Cruel Night,” and “Gold.”
The music video for “Bees” by Smoke Season is as trippy as you can get. The figures of Jason Rosen (formerly of Honor Society) and vocalist Gabrielle Wortman (from TEMP3ST) stand in front of a wall of swirling light, their shadows bending and twisting, their bodies morphing and multiplying. It fits the psychedelic sound of the song, which features the rhythm of heartbeat-like guitar chords, echoing voices and heavy breathing. The bees in question are probably attracted to the honey-like quality of Wortman’s voice, which is sweet and light while she sings a descending melody during the verses, then erupts during the chorus with the slightest bit of twang: “I smell the bees, I smell the bees/you get the honey without the sting.”
Why bees? Well, they’re kind of a metaphor for a tumultuous romance, if you think about it. You may get something sweet from putting up with them, but most likely, you’re just going to get stung.
Introducing a new column that takes us inside the Detroit music scene – AF
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Cover photo for Some Kind of Distortion courtesy of Christina Anderson
A lot can happen in five years. Sean Lynch of Milford-based dream pop, post-punk trio, 800beloved, agrees with me. Five years ago I met Lynch, per my request as both a fan and as a writer, to chat about Everything Purple, the band’s dreamy follow-up to 2009’s Jesus and Mary Chain-esque debut Bouquet just before dissolving their relationship with their label, which lead to a three year hiatus. At the time, Lynch was still posing as a funeral director with a focus on restorative cosmetology, a profession that occupied over a decade of his life, and one that infiltrated 800beloved’s subject matter and undoubtedly crafted their signature staticky-concrete-macabre aesthetic.
Fast forward to today. I find myself at Bronx Bar in Detroit sitting across from Lynch, considered now to be one of my best friends and most faithful musical allies, to discuss a different type of undertaking, the release of 800beloved’s long awaited third record, Some Kind of Distortion. “We Beyonce’d that shit,” Lynch says in reference to the unannounced, overnight drop of the album on August 3rd. “I guess this is us going back to true left of the dial punk rock D.I.Y. We didn’t promote this record even though it was finished a year ago. It just felt like the season perfectly lined up and there was a storm that night.” This speaks true to Lynch’s creative sensibility, to trust intuition as means of honing in on emotive moments rather than popular opportunity, which explains 800’s quiet notoriety. “800beloved has become very niche-y, which is good,” Lynch explains. “We are truly comfortable narrowing the scope and not being a solicitation or a buzz band.”
For a three piece (currently composed of Anastasiya Metesheva on bass, Ben Collins on drums, and Lynch on vocals, guitar and production, respectively) 800beloved’s sound achieves a shimmering fullness that is as methodical as it is nostalgic. Some Kind of Distortion abandons traditional verse, chorus, verse, and is almost entirely devoid of hooks, a distortion in its own right. Distortion is a record with a pulse of throbbing warped sounds, and although difficult to identify, it still manages convulse with familiarity – from the warbled, zombie surf rock tones in “Die Slow,” to the droning, buzzy vocals on “Cicadas” that lends itself to sounding like an aural illusion to the soft and swelling opening instrumental track “0930131103.” “This is our attempt at psychedelic dream pop. We are playing back to our roots while exploring things we’ve never introduced to our audience through our particular filter,” says Lynch. “It’s a record that is sort of introverted and juvenile. It’s almost concept-less, in a way.”
I tell Lynch that the latest record is much less “death-y” than his previous, a statement he agrees with. “Enduring Black” (appropriately inspired by a CoverGirl cosmetic name found in the embalming room at his last funeral gig) is the shortest song on the album, clocking in just under three minutes. Even so, Lynch manages to write what feels like an obituary to his direct involvement with death work by means of his simplistic and clever lyrical prowess: ‘When I lose this black suit/I hope I forget/ what this all looks like in the end/I’d rather get distracted/by the liner ’round your eyes/Enduring Black/after all this time.’ “The song is sort of my sign off as a funeral director, an admission that I wanted more. It was my attempt to part with it, intellectually,” Lynch says. The album’s title track opens with a haunted crooning, “Time why are you so cruel/when I had all these ideas for you” and paints the glimmering sense of teenage suburbia while the song plays out like an invitation to a dystopian after party. “It’s addressing modern day distractions, but the jam seems like it’s out of a John Hughes film,” Lynch details. He is reminded, excitedly, of his inspiration behind tracking the song in post. “When you and our friends threw my birthday party at the roller rink, I just kept thinking of the stoner-y Dazed and Confused vibe of rollerskating. End of summer, stale burnt grass. That’s what I’ve tried to capture with this record.”
800beloved (which, if you haven’t figured it out by now is in fact a phone number) are not strangers to strong visual imageries that require, for those curious enough, further explanation though never deviating from disarming the audience. “The cover art is a lift from our friend’s Instagram. When I saw the photo I immediately sensed the vibe of the album which leaves this stained cafeteria feeling.” Lynch is wistful when he says this, and it is with this very passion in which he describes the synchronistic way in which the photo encapsulates the album and the band’s willingness to artfully displace themselves by releasing Distortion completely independently, that I am reminded of his affinity for detail both visually and sonically (and the palpable electricity he exudes when the two are perfectly wed). “When you work with a label and they tell you one thing and it doesn’t happen, it feels like a hula dance. A hula hoop doesn’t belong in a tree. I love the connotation of displacement of an object.”
So, yes. We were right. A lot can change in five years. Although 800beloved has remained uncompromising in vision, they continue to evolve. They’re still the band you have to seek to find or will possibly trip over. We conclude our interview (during which I’m not sure I ever even posed a question, a stark contrast to my pages of meticulous, shaky fangirl notes from five years ago) and venture out for a late night dinner where we take turns laughing, commiserating, and stealing french fries and onion rings off of each other’s respective plates. We eventually part ways at the gig van, aptly named “the space station” where Sean lends me an Alesis processor and the road worn, black electric Epiphone used on Bouquet, their first album and my summer soundtrack for heartbreak the year of its release. It’s a poetic transfer between friends; words for words, music for music, fried food for fried food. It isn’t until after I’m nestled into my apartment later that night with these symbolic musical tools far too advanced for my two- month- old fascination that Sean texts me, “I can’t wait to hear your distortions.” A perfectly apropos end to the night. I put my phone down and make some ugly, screechy guitar sounds and am suddenly warmed and buzzed by my own contortions as I dreamt of roller skates, longing for a summer that may or may not have happened yet.
There’s an over-used quote on Tumblr that goes something like: “She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.” With River Tiber‘s (aka Tommy Paxton-Beesley) latest track “Let You Go,” the Canadian producer created a piece of art that defies this statement. It’s a beautiful song filled with tried and true R&B sensibilities, yet manages to still make you think with unexpected beats popping like bubbles. The way he bluntly sings, “I only love you when I let you go” will resonate with anyone who has been that asshole in a breakup, which is, all of us.
His EP When The Time Is Right comes out September 16. Listen to “Let You Go” below.
It’s Monday, which means despite the dismal sounds of alarms, we have new music to be celebrated. Brooklyn electro – pop duo, Astronaughty, recently released their debut single “Try Much Harder.” I was sold at the beautiful long-haired men gazing at me through a purple sheen, but their appeal goes beyond the superficial. The track is a mega-fun burst of surprises, dips and dives, and unexpected tempo changes. There’s room for introspection, mellow smiles, and booty shaking.
Of “Try Much Harder,” Astronaughty says, “We wanted the track to sound like the beginning of something new that takes you back to something familiar.” Like so many late-night Brooklyn epiphanies, this one came to Sam and Charlie while riding the L train. “The melody came out of nowhere when we were taking the L train together late one night. We like to hum ideas back and forth when we are out and about and this one was very pop-y for us at the time. We remember it gave us the image of a declining pop star on the dark side of the moon, trying to make one last hit.” With a debut like this, expect plenty more from these guys before they reach their own rock ‘n’ roll suicide.
Named as one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Artists to Watch” this month just a week after his wildly anticipated sophomore album Transgressor (Quite Scientific Records)dropped to an outpour of local and national praise, Flint, Michigan native Tunde Olaniran is making seismic waves with no end in sight.
Much like Olaniran himself, Transgressor is ambitious. The album treads on territory once explored by pop/hip hop/rock greats, but through his own vocal ferocity and audaciously layered beats. Olaniran manages to pave a path all his own (and in doing so, has reset the bar for breakout artists and seasoned vets, alike.) Transgressor achieves a rare feat: each track stands confidently on it’s own. Although the album is bound by a consistent textural experimentation, this allows each track to resonate with a unique reference point. Freddie Mercury vocals here. Early Missy Elliott vibes there. With Antony and the Johnsons meets Yeezus with a kiss of Squarepusher scattered throughout.
Trangressor is theatrical and strange, but never boring. The track “KYBM” incorporates pulsating tribal drum rhythms and chanting, yet there are moments that feel like a Baz Luhrmann film as heard on “Don’t Cry,” and others transport you to church like the standout breakup track, “Let Me Go.” These influences make Transgressor hard to categorize but help keep the album consistently curious. “Experimental pop/hip hop is the simplest way to categorize my sound,” Olaniran explained to me on the set of his music video for “KYBM” this past February. “I’m always trying new sounds, new ways to use my voice. But I like how it’s a little crude at the same time. With Transgressor I try to limit myself because I don’t want it to sound super polished.”
My favorite example of this methodology is the album’s alternative-broke-baller anthem “Diamonds” featuring iRAWniQ and Passalacqua. With lines like “I’m a fiend for a discount/ while I dream of a penthouse” and “Ima keep it real/nothing in my pocket but a $5 bill/guess I’ll go to Taco Bell and get a combo meal” (even including a line referencing the mass water shutoff controversy in Detroit) Olaniran makes even the downtrodden and relevant, funny. “At my core, I’m a ridiculous person.” He explained. “I don’t want to denigrate other artists or music but it can seem a little heavy handed when you’re trying to get a message across. I don’t want there to be a barrier. I want you to have music you can enjoy.”
“You could follow a rose wherever it grows/You could fall in love in Times Square,” Dan Bejar, aka Destroyer sings on the track “Times Square.” His latest album, Poison Season, constantly references itself, both musically and lyrically, but matter where one track takes you, another always leads you back to perhaps the most well-known area of New York City, Times Square; The record has three songs that include it in their title. Most New Yorkers may associate the area with crowded trains and annoying tourists more than love, but Bejar somehow makes it seem romantic and sentimental.
Called “Rock’s Exiled King” by The Fader, this is the tenth studio album by Bejar, who also plays in The New Pornographers, but strays far from the indie rock genre in his solo project. Though Poison Season may seem like a harsh name for an album, it’s not reflected in the music. Songs are filled with sweeping (but never too sappy) strings and loose jazz saxophone. The whole album has a late-night/early dawn feel to it, recalling the 4AM epiphanies you get when you’re still clinging to your last bit of consciousness. This is especially true on the track “Dream Lover,” where he borrows the line “Here comes the sun.” But this isn’t the hopeful, cheery sun from the Beatles’ song- this sun is an interruption, signaling the end the night with a does of reality: “Oh shit, here comes the sun/Lovers on the run,” Bejar laments after an evening where “Haunted starlight gets in your eyes.” Euphoric, chaotic saxophone and a driving beat make it one of the album’s best tracks.
On “Bangkok,” the saxophones are joined by piano, giving the song the feeling of an after-hours jazz lounge. And on “Hell,” the bouncy beat begs you to snap along even as Bejar insists “It’s hell down here, it’s hell”(He also slips in a somewhat political line with “Every murderer voted out of office is sold down the river,” though he follows it up with something purely romantic).
Bejar’s voice has a whispery, spoken-word feel to it, and even during quieter moments, it’s easy to want to give his words your full attention. There are some serious moments on the album, but Bejar’s sense of humor manages to shine through. He uses the line “Bring out your dead,” which could possibly (I’d like to think this, anyway) be a nod to the Monty Python comedy The Holy Grail. And while the music video for “Girl In A Sling” is a beautiful, simple film where Bejar develops old photo negatives in what appears to be a childhood house, the video for “Times Square” is a light-hearted stop motion animation. Mossy creatures get high off of pipes and joints, a tree stump hunts for mushrooms, and a cartoon brain crawls along the forest floor.
This is definitely not the Times Square that exists at West 42nd Street and 7th Avenue, but it’s the Times Square that should.
Poison Season is out on August 28 via Merge Records. Check out the track “Dream Lover” below.
In an industry where countless musicians toil night and day to develop a specific sound, that thing that will set them apart from the pack and place them in a category all their own floats up Angel Deradoorian, the self-identified lepidopteran vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumental artist.
Deradoorian, as she’s mononymouslyknown, was a longtime member of the indie-rock cult darlings Dirty Projectors. And her vocals have such a unique quality that immediately evoke the ethereal memory of that infamous project. Only here on her debut solo LP, The Expanding Flower Planet, there is an intimacy breathed into the tracks that promises sincerity, genuine hope and connection. Deradoorian has poured herself into the album in such a way that her being is indistinguishable from the music. Listening to the album all the way through is an exciting and spiritually-laced journey you take with her guiding you down the path of her creation.
We reviewed her debut albumat length earlier this week, and on the heels of it’s release I caught up with her to pick her brain on a bit about her story in music.
AF: What prompted your move to a solo project?
D: I’ve had a solo project since I was about 17 years old, but didn’t deeply focus on it. It was either doing another album cycle with Dirty Projectors or hunkering down to work on my own stuff. The timing seemed right for me to take a break from the band to explore my own work.
AF: What experiences in your career to date are you bringing to The ExpandingFlower Planet?
D: All my musical experience since childhood.
AF: Where else did you draw inspiration for the album?
D: I draw inspiration from everywhere. Visual art, nature, music, my friends.
AF: Can you describe a bit your process in the creation and evolution of a song.
D: Each song is created in its own way. Written on different instruments and pieced together, some are written on just one instrument.
AF: Does the album read as one compelling piece or is it a series of vignettes?
D: I’d see it more as vignettes, but with a thread binding them together.
AF: What aspect of the album release are you most excited for?
D: For the music to be public and to be heard.
AF: How would you define the music mood of the moment?
D: I live in Los Angeles right now. The mood of music seems pretty broad to me right now. I feel there is a lot of crossover in genres and between independent and major sounding music. Seems like a time of fusion.
AF: Are there any other projects that you are really digging right now?
D: I’ve been enjoying the Badbadnotgood/Ghostface album.
AF: What’s your current jam?
D: Allen Toussaint, “From A Whisper To A Scream”.
AF: What else can we expect from you in the months to come?
D: Tour tour tour.
https://soundcloud.com/anticon/deradoorian-komodo
Deradoorian Tour Dates
Aug 28 – Queens, NY – Trans Pecos (Record Release Show)
Sep 11 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right #
Sep 12 – Richmond, VA – The Camel #
Sep 13 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle Back Room #
Sep 14 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn #
Sep 15 – Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder #
Sep 17 – Austin, TX – Holy Mountain #
Sep 18 – Dallas, TX – Three Links #
Sep 20 – Albuquerque, NM – Sister #
Sep 21 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom #%
Sep 22 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo #
Sep 23 – San Francisco, CA – Brick & Mortar Music Hall #
Sep 25 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge #
Sep 26 – Seattle, WA – The Vera Project #
Sep 29 – Minneapolis, MN – Icehouse #
Sep 30 – Chicago, IL – Schuba’s #
Oct 01 – Detroit, MI – Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit #
As summer comes to a close and the sun sets a little sooner on us all Julia Holter is preparing to release her fourth studio album Have You In My Wilderness. The timing I’d love to believe is one of those serendipitous things, her classic and timeless brand of Americana folk settling onto my shoulders like the sweaters I’ll soon need. A perfect pairing of creation and created. Though I know it’s planned, the machine’s behind it, but I’m comforted by the knowledge that they got it right. She got it right. A first listen through the album and nary a disappointing number among the bunch. It’s a languid tale, a lazy river of emotionally wrought but not fussed over music.
Julia and I caught up over the phone recently to talk a bit about the album, her art and what she has planned for the future.
AudioFemme: How do you think you’ve changed and grown as an artist and how are you showcasing that on Have You In My Wilderness?
Julia Holter: I don’t know, I’m never able to say how I’ve grown. Obviously you learn things with experience, so that is true. With every new record I’m trying to do something different and so I never am really conscious of what the progression is. One thing that I learned over the past two years is how to work with people. I was recording all alone for several years before I started working with other people. It took a lot of courage for me to try to have other people play my music. It’s really fun, it’s different. I mean I like playing my own music solo, but it’s been really nice working with other people.
AF: Can you tell us a little about your own particular process of song creation?
JH: I tend to write, especially these songs for this record, very quickly. They just kind of came out of me while I would be at the piano playing. I would say almost all of them were written to piano with the exception of “Vasquez”. It would happen really fast, it just comes out of my mouth and my hands at the same time, these fragments of a phrase along with a musical phrase. And then what happens is you have to develop it, that’s the tricky part. Developing these ideas, but staying true to the initial creation of your subconscious that happened in those seconds where you came up with it. Revisiting it, repeating or creating a new section that’s similar is the hardest part.
AF: Is the album meant to be consumed as a book or vignettes?
JH: I was imagining this was like a collection of ballads. It’s a bunch of songs, some of them are love songs, but there’s these themes of power struggles in relationships. Other than that they’re all independent. But I think that that’s a nice way to look at it – like they’re a bunch of short stories.
AF: What was it like to record in your hometown LA?
JH: The process was similar for this record and the previous one, where I would make demos and then I’d arrange them for musicians to play and we’d record them with Cole (M. Greif-Neill) at the computer as a producer, rather than myself. And I think it was really nice to see people do what they do really well with what I was presenting them. It’s teamwork in that way. Once I realized that the world isn’t against me and people are interested in playing my music because they are interested in new experiences I calmed down and was able to enjoy the process. I’m always defensive and thinking everyone would much rather do anything else than play my music, which is silly because musicians are interested in doing new things. I love being in the studio so much because you it’s like a playground of sound.
AF: Do you like drawing comparisons to other artists?
JH: I don’t know if most people like that at all. It’s just because it makes it hard to see yourself if you’re being compared to someone else, but obviously that’s what people do. That’s what journalists and music critics or anybody analyzing music is going to compare it to other music because that makes sense. But for an artist it’s hard to think that way, because obviously there’s music that I love and music that I’ve probably been inspired by, but I’m usually not. I tend to not make music inspired by other music directly. Usually if I’m inspired by something it’s something that’s not music, like a story or a movie or something.
AF: Do you enjoy touring?
JH: Yes and no. I love performing and I love being able to see other places I’ve never been to. There’s no denying that. It’s very cool, and I’m very lucky that I get to do that. I don’t ever say no, but I definitely hate flying so much and I hate being uncomfortable and traveling, like the process of traveling, it’s really rough on your body. Getting sick on tour is so terrible and you get sick a lot because of the lack of sleep. There’s good sides and bad sides, but on the whole basically what I’m doing is my dream and I’m so happy.
AF: Are there any cities or places that you just love?
JH: For whatever reason I’ve played a lot of shows and had a good time in different cities in Poland. There’s always a really great audience there. People are really into music and enthusiastic pretty much everywhere I’ve played there. Europe in general is just very receptive to a lot of different music more so than my own country, so it’s nice to go there as a musician and be welcomed and I like that. I really can’t say there’s a place I’ve had terrible experiences yet. I like everywhere I’ve been.
AF: If it hadn’t been music what else strikes a chord?
JH: Oh I don’t know. I would probably be a teacher or something. I could teach music theory or something. But outside of music? I could be an English teacher maybe. But that’s hard, I know it’s not easy either. I don’t know. To be honest I think about it a lot, how lucky I am to do this, I don’t know what else I can do.
AF: With the impending album release (9/25) what comes next for you?
JH: I’m doing a film score right now for a boxing movie. And I’m working on collaborations with a few friends.I really want to do more scoring.
AF: Can you talk more about the film score and how you fell into that position?
JH: The director heard my music on the radio and I think he very bravely asked me to do it, against the will of the people probably. There’s a lot of professional film scorers out there, and I’m not. I haven’t done it. I mean I have, but not professionally. So he’s just been really supportive and it’s been really really great experience so far. It’s kind of a mellow score, simple with bluesy piano.
AF: What’s your current jam?
JH: I’m listening to the score for Inherent Vice. I like it. It’s Jonny Greenwood. I never listen to scores. It’s such a new thing for me, but it’s such an obvious thing for me to enjoy. I think it’s funny I’ve never done it.
Doe Paoro recently released a new single titled “The Wind” – and it is beautiful. The song was written during Hurricane Sandy – which for any New Yorker will invoke memories of fear, the dark, of rain coming down and uncertainty, but hopefully, if you were hiding out with someone you love, also a deep sense of intimacy. Shelter from the storm, if you will. “The Wind” was produced by Bon Iver (Justin Vernon) and features an enchanting beat created by the Chicago duo Supreme Cuts that rains down in deep, sharp beats as soaring interlaced vocals dance the song of calmness that only true intimacy can provide.
It’s Monday, which for many, means an earlier and violently annoying alarm clock, and perhaps engaging in tasks below us in order to bring home the bacon. Yet it’s also an empty row on a calendar of possibilities. Maybe you’ll get to pet an extraordinarily lovely dog. Maybe you’ll kiss someone like the stock market depended on it. And maybe…you’ll hear some delightful new music.
Coming from Sydney, today we have for you the debut track “Home” from Little May. Little May is Liz Drummond, Hannah Field, and Annie Hamilton. Their debut album, For The Company, comes out October 9 via Dew Process / Capitol Records. The 13-track LP was produced by The National’s Aaron Brooking Dessner. The track is delicate and haunted, like a fragile yet enchanting ballerina, or the dried roses kept by your bedside table, given by a lover gone yet not forgotten. It’s a lovely song to add a sprinkle of spooky fairy dust on what could be just another Monday.
Angel Deradoorian is a former member of the Dirty Projectors. As one of the band’s vocalists, she contributed to many of their trademark harmonies and long, sustained cries that used the singers’ voices more like an instrument than just a way to deliver words. Some of that sound creeps into her solo album The Expanding Flower Planet, but for the most part, Deradoorian chooses a bold, new direction.
The album, which will be released on August 21 via Anticon, appeals to my San Francisco roots: it’s filled with vibes that convey peace, love, and more than a hint of psychedelic drugs. Deradoorian’s voice ranges from serious and mystical to singsongy, like a butterfly that lands on your hand only to flit away suddenly, flying this way and that through the air. On tracks like “The Invisible Man,” the Middle Eastern inflections in her singing are perfectly mixed with echoes of her voice, low sustained tones, and rock drums. On other songs, however, the percussion seemed overwhelming yet too simple, even childish under the range and layers of her voice.
The Expanding Flower Planet is trance-inducing, but with it’s many, many percussive parts, vocal lines, and a constant stream of lyrics, it’s too busy for passive listening. The best song comes first with “Beautiful Woman,” which recalls Deradoorian’s work with the Dirty Projectors but repackages the sound in shiny, polished pop. Other noteworthy tracks include “Darklord,” which features a trilling surf guitar, the monk-like chanting of “Ouenya,” and the high-energy track “The Eye.” “Komodo,” a song about running from the deadly lizard with a fatal bite, was also enjoyable for its playfulness.
The Expanding Flower Planet is a fun trip through someone else’s mind, someone who may be in another universe entirely. It’s a great listen if you need to completely change your frame of mind. And, on some distant flower planet, aliens are probably dancing to it somewhere.
This Saturday BangOn!NYC is holding their mysterious music and arts festival Elements. Along an industrial waterfront in Brooklyn, the vibe should be somewhere between Berlin’s Boiler Room and the bug-infested desert of Burning Man. A few subway lines away from wherever you reside, the one-day event promises to be a slice of music and escapism without plagues or planes.
Elements will have four stages- Earth/Wind/Water/Fire, along with large-scale art installations, delicious food trucks, humans, fairies, hopefully giraffes, all sorts of magical creatures spinning around from the sky to add to the intensity of your experience. Dig the full line-up above. Or better yet, don’t even read it, just show up Saturday dressed as whatever your inner child wants and dance like summer never ends.
When the drummer of Palberta sat behind the kit and stared at the set with incredibly exaggerated concentration, she almost gave off the impression that she didn’t really know how to play. Every beat looked like a painstakingly calculated move, one you might see in a beginning musician who requires complete focus to practice their scales or rudiments.
But this is Palberta, and they definitely know how to play. In fact, the members of the trio, Lily, Ani, and Nina, all took a turn behind the drumset during their August 14th set at Palisades, and all played the bass and guitar. They’re skilled enough that they don’t have to prove they have any skills, and can pretend they don’t know what they’re doing because they know exactly what they’re doing. So, they’ve disregarded most traditional structures, rhythms and melodies. They’re beyond giving a fuck.
Their songs may be short, and may include a section where the guitarist fake-cries into the mic, whining intelligibly while the others mouth along. Songs might borrow from the kid’s chant “One, two three, four/ I declare a thumb war,” or devolve into the creepiest nursery rhyme you’ve ever heard. Their movements and gestures seem choreographed down to their facial expressions, and are just as important as their music is; some interpretive-dance-like moves elicited cheers from fans, and during the end of the set, each member smiled sweetly at the crowd, grimaced maniacally, or remained stonefaced. By the end of the song they were playing, the audience broke out in shocked laughter as fake blood began slowly dripping from musicians’ mouths.
Their lyrics range from short, vaguely political phrases (“Hey dude, c’mon/ You don’t even know where the pharmacy is”) to barely intelligible. But even with the unexpected nature of their performance, and their frequent instrument swaps, there’s a some kind of consistency to their sound: some kind of quirky, improvisational punk.
At various times during Palberta’s show, I was convinced that the whole performance was joke, that I wasn’t cool enough to get the actual joke, that they were completely serious and then finally, that maybe this was the point of their music: Do these things really even matter? If you like what you hear, not really. Palberta isn’t for everyone, but maybe that’s because some of us are trying to hard to understand them.
Anything described as “haunted pop” has already won my heart from the get go. On this day, Wednesday August 19th of 2015 AudioFemme is proud to premiere “Champagne Reign” by New York darling Micky Blue. “‘Champagne Reign’ is about how far some people are willing to go for the glamor and fame. I think you can still reach your dreams without “selling your soul” or loosing yourself, it’s a much harder and longer road but I think the payoff can be much greater,” says Micky.
It’s a sparking track that will translate easily to the dance floor, but with a message that may cause the dancer to look for the realness of the night, the eyes of the person you’re dancing with, and the thrill of being young and free and creating memories that could sell a movie script – without worrying how big the opening weekend would be. It sings of the delight of the glow of the sparklers, not the price tag that comes with the champagne bottle they appear with.
Sleepwalker is the debut album from New Brunswick singer-songwriter Leslie Bear, except we’re calling her Long Beard, despite no evidence of said beard. It’s an album four years in the making, produced by Chris Daly, and joined by Devin Silvers and Tom Christie on bass, and Stefan Koekemoer on drums. On the single “Porch”, Bear’s vocals crawl delicately like a spider across a web spun by the guitar lines. The song paints an aural portrait of the most beautiful time of the 24 hours we spend circling ’round the sun, when the light is dim enough to see fireflies, but not too dark that you’ve lost your lover’s features.
Sleepwalker is out via Team Love Records October 23. Listen to “Porch” below.
When was the last time you read the bible? Does wearing gothic cross earrings count? The Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Sam Geller goes by the moniker of Samson the Truest after his biblical hero, Samson. “In his music, Geller seeks to balance the power and the vulnerability embodied by Samson, delving into topics of self-destruction and transcendence as they appear in daily life.” For the record, I quoted the author’s bio page as wearing gothic cross earrings does not in fact, count as reading the bible.
“Afterall” is Samson’s first track from his upcoming album Come Back Shane, out October 2nd. The song features vocals from their frequent collaborator Aerial East, along with Xan Aird (The Virgins) on guitar. “Afterall” manages to walk the fine line between calm and impassioned, proving you don’t need to read the bible to believe in soul.
Listen to “Afterall” below.
Ticket Giveaways
Each week Audiofemme gives away a set of tickets to our featured shows in NYC! Scroll down to enter for the following shindigs.
