A Beacon School to Release First Album in 5 Years & Shares Two New Tracks

A Beacon School (the dream pop project of New York-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Patrick J. Smith) announces his much anticipated first full-length in five years, yoyo, and shares two new tracks from the album, "Potion" and “Jon."

yoyo will be released October 13th via Grind Select. 

Here's what Smith said of the new songs:

"'Potion' was written in one sitting back in 2019 and has been a live staple since then. It’s about feeling a burst of excitement about something new but also the fear that accompanies it.

On the other end of the spectrum, 'Jon' is a song that took on many forms before its final iteration. Originally a straightforward guitar song, it ended up in its current state of electronic drone after years of tinkering with it. Although there aren’t any lyrics, to me the song has always evoked New York at night and that’s what we tried to convey with the accompanying visualizer."

The official follow-up to his beloved debut Cola, Smith takes his sound even further with 10 tracks that are an untainted exploration of the unconscious artistic self and the oscillation of time.

Smith began making music as A Beacon School in 2009. A home-recorded demo single was released in 2011, and a self-titled EP by a full-band lineup appeared near the end of 2012. Smith notably played with bands such as Modern Rivals and Bluffing, and currently works with Parquet Courts' Max Savage as part of Maxband.

In 2018, A Beacon School's Cola was released by Grind Select. Alternating between uptempo, jangly pop nuggets, lush shoegaze and intricately-arranged electronic soundscapes, it quickly found an audience and became a staple on KCRW’s flagship program, Morning Becomes Eclectic. 

After receiving positive press and slowly gaining a worldwide following, an expanded vinyl edition of Cola was released in 2019 in conjunction with Fat Possum’s House Arrest imprint, amassing over 50 million streams, tours with El Ten Eleven and Ruby Haunt and syncs on critically acclaimed shows such as Hacks and Shrinking.

Press photo by Max Mellman