Immersive Atlanta posts "Don't Play Dead," Pacifico's energetic introduction to 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦

PREMIERE

I'm a huge fan of songs about small victories in the battle with depression, wrapped in hook-filled pop-rock writing and production.

Here's one!

The first single from 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘦 (Feb. 10, Pacifirecords), the first album in five years by Pacifico, "makes for an energetic (not to mention empathetic) introduction," according to Immersive Atlanta in its premiere of "Don't Play Dead," out everywhere tomorrow.

"It’s a punchy and driving pop-rock anthem. Schwartz and company lead with their hearts, delivering nurturing support with an impressive array of unassailable hooks."

Click for your life!

BrooklynVegan shares I Was A King's "Growing Wild," which keeps the hook count high

TRACK PREMIERE

'''Growing Wild' goes into more melancholy territory, while keeping the hook count high." Thanks to BrooklynVegan this morning for the premiere of a new I Was A King single!

"Growing Wild" is out everywhere tomorrow, but you can hear it now. That's how premieres work!

The new I Was A King album 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘔𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦 is out at the end of the month on October 28.

Click for your life!

Norwegian duo I Was A King may have lost power to their studio, but not to their songs; Band's ninth album "Follow Me Home" arrives Oct. 28

NEWS

The front cover art for Follow Me Home, the ninth album by Oslo, Norway’s I Was A King (Coastal Town Recordings, Oct. 28) displays dotted lines that correspond to colorful cutouts on the back cover, one for each of the album’s twelve songs.

This is an innocent, childlike prompt to play it like a puzzle, literally, but on a more figurative note, this bit of fun also feels like a suggestion to fill in the blanks on what these songs mean to the listener.

“We recorded Follow Me Home in December of 2021 in a building that had been a very important hub for Norwegian music over the last 20 years,” Frode Strømstad, one-half of the duo with Anne Lise Frø, explains. “While we were making the album, the building was emptied, and the heat and water shut off. It has since been demolished.”

Even under these considerably less-than-ideal circumstances, Strømstad and Frøkedal managed to make another reality of the time – producing these recordings during a lockdown – work to their advantage. The minimal take on the sound that I Was A King had been traveling towards all this time is its strongest asset on Follow Me Home.

“The previous two records were very band-oriented,” Strømstad says. “We felt that doing it as a two-piece this time would be a fresh approach, playing instruments we normally don’t play just to get some different ideas and textures and keeping it as simple and organic as possible.”

Debut album from Ivory Fields manages to sound modern even though it was largely recorded a decade ago; RIYL: Psychic TV, Wire

NEWS

“Ivory Fields has been years in the making,” says Mahadev, (fka Matt Gangi) (GANGI, Fake Estates), one-half of the Los Angeles-based duo which also includes Alejandro Cohen (Pharaohs, Languis.)

Many of the synths and vocals on the record were tracked between 2010 and 2012 in what Mahadev describes as “a slow-burning collaboration.”

This scenario is similar to Mahadev’s other recent release as one-half of GANGI. Somehow, in both cases, it feels right that these compositions have had the time to silently evolve.

In their own words, Ivory Fields “combusts layers of synths, drum machines and guitar over songs composed more around sonic imagery than chord progressions.”

The description is as accurate as it is mysterious. Indeed, the music here often feels like it is both floating just out of grasp, and overwhelming and omnipresent at the same time.

Even so, Mahadev reminds that the record is grounded in a “flare for pop context in its songwriting and production.” Cohen concurs, saying, “Ivory Fields mixes a desire for pop songs, dance production values, and experimental influences.”

Treble Zine premieres the "strange and disorienting" new short film from GANGI

PREMIERE

The following was created on a $5 Mattel Vidster camera purchased on eBay.

I submit, courtesy of Treble, the 12-minute short film for Gangi's just-released three-track EP As Fake Estates, yes!

"Distorted and hazy imagery... a perfect pairing with the group’s songs. Pulsing, dub-inspired rock to psychedelic pop and more abrasive industrial grooves... Accessible melodies with sonic chaos."

What more do you want from outsider art than this, huh? A comfy chair to sit on while you watch? Click for your life!

Physical setbacks almost ended his career, instead Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets adapted his style for three new 2022 EPs

NEWS

After citing Al Green, Marvin Gaye, and Prince as influences, it is only natural that Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets concludes, “These songs are all about the groove.”

The nine new tunes by the crushedvelvets are presented three at a time, as if placed on a dark club’s bar like mixed drinks over the course of a mild summer evening.

EP 1 is out now, with the second arriving Sept. 2, and the third on Oct. 21.

For Meza, getting to that stone cold groove meant first getting his own groove back, and not just in the sense of the popular turn of phrase. Meza literally lost his ability to write and perform following an aneurism and stroke.

“These new songs and style came out of necessity,” Meza confides. “The incident forced me to change my perspective on how to write and perform. My vocal delivery had to be more laid back and the groovy pace of these songs keeps me from over-stimulating myself.”

The circumstances surrounding these recordings are out of the ordinary, but for listeners, they are even more alive with Meza’s soul and survival because of it.