Chris Cubeta Announces 'APOE' LP & New Single 'Vicious'

Chris Cubeta is excited to announce the forthcoming release of his new album APOE, due out April 7th, 2023. APOE is described by Cubeta as an album he "absolutely had to make" after experiencing a personal reckoning of sorts, much of which was brought on by his mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis at the shockingly young age of 57.

In tandem with the album announcement, Cubeta has shared the lead single "Vicious". "This was the first song I wrote for the record," he shares, "and the lyrics came out in pieces as I was really starting to grapple with this idea of memory and loss of memory."

A longtime Brooklynite, Cubeta has honed his craft for nearly 20 years as a songwriter, musician, and part owner of Studio G Brooklyn, one of NYC's largest recording studios. During that time, he has collaborated with, produced, and engineered songs and albums for some of the biggest names in the music business, including multi-platinum recording artist A Great Big World, Michael Stipe, Jason Mraz, Jukebox the Ghost, and Emily King to name a few. Despite all those behind-the-scenes bonafides, Cubeta has always been an artist first and foremost.

APOE, which takes its name from a genotype implicated in Alzheimer's disease, represents a creative leap forward that stems from a place of personal discovery. Since his mother's diagnosis, Cubeta has been examining how memory impacts and shapes us. "The last 5 or so years, I've been in therapy almost every week and a lot of the time I spent was focused on writing music and where it comes from," he shares. "I'm confronting things about my childhood that have led me to be the person I am, and conversely discovering a lot about the person I want to be."

APOE is a true reflection of Cubeta, almost exclusively written, recorded, mixed, and performed by himself aside from a few key contributors. Strings courtesy of Rob Moose (Phoebe Bridgers, Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver) provide a hauntingly beautiful addition to the song "I'm Tired of This," while accenting other tracks on the record as well. Cubeta's longtime friend Gary Atturio also aided in recording and production.

While the album is decidedly reflective, it feels buoyant as opposed to mired in the past. A self-described "rhythmic songwriter," Cubeta often finds himself experimenting with cool drum sounds and grooves that lead to inspiration for melody and chord progression. "Being a studio rat," he says, "I need to be able to layer sounds in order to get inspired to write."

Those kaleidoscopic layers of sound are the perfect companion to APOE's introspective dive into open-ended questions. "This record was necessary because I truly feel best when I'm writing and recording material that means something to me," shares Cubeta. "The craft of songwriting and music-making is a way for me to make something that makes some sense but is also still abstract. I guess my hope is that the writing and the recordings combine to make sense to someone else."