Asbury Park based band Lowlight have released their new song "Every Time" via Ghettoblaster. The track appears on their 2nd full-length album, Endless Bummer, out September 13 via Telegraph Hill Records.
"We refer to our bassist and MPC2000xl operator, Rey Rivera, as Lowlight's "Idea Man," Renee Maskin tells Ghettoblaster. "He's always pitching us ideas for new music videos, merch, podcast ideas, commercials for the band, commercials for other people, food products, the list goes on. He is a fountain of inspiration within our group and beyond."
"Every Time" was written after Rey pitched us an idea for a film," Maskin continues. "Sort of "Mortal Combat" meets "Groundhogs Day", the idea was that every day, a female warrior samurai wakes up next to another samurai. They spend a day together, the end of which she has to fight and kill the other samurai in battle. The film would progress, and our protagonist would either eventually find her way out of the cycle, or finally be defeated. We thought this particular idea had some poetic potential in a song, and while the lyrics did not lean into the original Samurai elements, they did spark greater notions of love, anguish, hope, and dread, all of which translate particularly well into a
Lowlight song. "Every Time" is the result."
At the forefront of one of America's most resurgent music scenes in Asbury Park, New Jersey,
Lowlight is a female-fronted indie rock band that blends traditional Americana and roots rock with synth-driven new wave into a sound that is at once fist-pumpingly familiar and slyly experimental, a seamless combination of psychedelic grooves with country twang, screaming guitar riffs with lyrics that present surprisingly delicate and fractured narratives.
Although Renee Maskin (vocalist/guitarist) and Derril Sellars (guitarist) were acquaintances and college classmates, their musical paths didn't cross until years later when mutual friend and rock photographer, Mike Petzinger, brought Renee to Derril's studio to record an album of unapologetically dark, often yearning, sometimes hopeful songs she'd been performing solo. Renee's narratives of life at the edges and Sellers' lush sonic palette and ambitious full-band production instantly clicked - those sessions, which featured contributions from Colin Ryan (drums) and Dana Sellers (keyboards) formed the basis of the musical collaboration that would become Lowlight. Rey Rivera joined the band on Bass and MPC2000XL, completing the lineup that has brought
Lowlight to its distinctive modern-Americana aesthetic that places them in the company of genre-defying acts such as Sharon Van Etten, The National, and Timber Timbre.
Endless Bummer, which will be released by Telegraph Hill Records, is Lowlight's second full-length studio LP, and represents the realization of the promise of their earlier releases. The record is a departure for the band, in that most of the songs were written almost entirely while in the studio to focus even further on fostering a collaborative, democratic, and communal environment. The result of this experimentation expands on Lowlight's use of synthesized textures and intricate poly-rhythms, while remaining grounded in their country-inspired roots. "We tried recording these songs as they were being written," Derril says, "without putting them through the rigors of live performance first. We're confident enough to try these things now. I feel our songwriting has progressed. We're proud parents." Dana adds that, "for the first time with this release, we sound like who we were growing up to be all along."
Musically,
Endless Bummer sees Lowlight's restless sonic experimentation moving further into new territory, such as the incorporation of looped samples on "Horsefoot", stadium-sized rock on "Coastlines", and a Pet Sounds-style "more is more" approach to layering sound on tracks like "Every Time", which Colin describes as their most dynamic song yet, a massive sonic tapestry with "Five drum sets, countless synths, weirdo horns, a loon, it's all in there..."
8/16: Danny Clinch Transparent Gallery *Vinyl Pre-Release*
8/17: Metuchen, NJ - Old Franklin Schoolhouse
8/18: New Hope, PA - Triumph Brewery
8/22: NYC, NY - Rockwood Music Hall
8/22: Richmond, VA - Garden Grove Brewing
8/23: Carrboro, NC - 2nd Wind
8/24: Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle
8/25: Raleigh, NC - SoFar Sounds
8/26: Arlington, VA - Galaxy Hut
9/7: Syracuse, NY - Funk 'n Waffles
9/14: Jersey City, NJ - Hamilton Park BBQ
9/20-9/22: Asbury Park, NJ - Sea.Hear.Now Festival
Photo credit: Darren Cox
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