If you’ve ever been to a party where a rakish young man sporting a tousled shag coif says “meet me in the bathroom” and proceeds to offer you a six pack of Pepsi and 6 bags of Pop Rocks and you say hey why not, we only live once and proceed to ingest all six bags and down all six sodas which after a brief period of intestinaldistress sets off an chemical acidic reaction of an intensity not seen since Mount Vesuvius buried all those pervy pagan Pompeians in hot lava and rips your stomach wide open from the inside out just like happened to that cute, moon-faced tousle-headed kid from the old breakfast cereal TV advertisements your parents made you watch on youtube or so the legend goes then you’ve got some idea of what’s in store for you if you go see Big Girl and Tetchy on tour together just CLICK HERE for a full list of dates and venues…
…with the salient-if-somewhat-labored point here being that here ya got two gender-subversive bands who just like Pepsi & Pop Rocks blur the distinction between sugary sweet (melodically, vocally, temperamentally) and aggressively in-your-face-ily pungent which granted may not make make your stomach explode but it will make your heart grow by three sizes at least all while gleefully melting your face off with frenzied acid-rock-ifed shreadin’ and yellin’ in the midst of pop-songs-that-rock and rock-songs-that-pop and one can only imagine what a combustible combination it’ll be with the two of ‘em put together with fully activated wonder twin powers (it doesn’t hurt they share a member too) and oh by the way the live video clip found up top should give you some idea of what it’ll be like seeing Tetchy live (filmed at the very wicked Our Wicked Lady) so best gird your loins and say your Hell Yeah Marys…
…in preparation for Tetchy and Big Girl coming to your local VFW Hall or Elk’s Lodge as they make their way from their native stomping groups of Brooklyn (Elsewhere, The Broadway) on down to a scrappy little music fest called South By Southwest to play a full slate of gigs in and around Austin (keep it weird!) and then finally back again for a homecoming show at Brooklyn’s Alphaville but not before hitting six Southernfried cities on the way to SXSW (if you don’t live in any of those cities well here’s a good excuse to visit!) and oh by the way this is a good time to mention how the live montage of Tetchy seen above is an original Deli Mag FilmsProductio (you heard it here first!) brought to you by our very own newly minted videographer Daniel Moore (Dimo Films) who first made his debut on this site back in December with a cool montage of Moon Kissed playing the first of their Heaven-Purgatory-Hell-themed shows at Baby’s All Right…
…but hey if you prefer florid prose to professionally shot video (or if you enjoy both!) be sure to check out these two Deli pieces on Tetchy and on Big Girl posted to this site and either way you’ll no doubt wanna keep an eye out for exciting new releases coming up from both bands in the weeks and months to come (note: before the tour proper starts Tetchy play in Philly at Kung Fu Necktie on 2/15 and here in NYC with Crazy and the Brains at Saint Vitus on 2/16) and truly the South Will Rise Again when these soul-baring-big-hearted-hard-rockin’ Brooklynite babes drop in on their backyard barbecues so better lock up your sons and daughters cuz the Tetchy-Big Girl caravan is comin’ to your town (alongside lots of other great acts on each bill) so catch ‘em while you can before they blow up big like that poor little kid’s stomach. (Jason Lee)
3/3 — The Broadway (Brooklyn, Tetchy only) with TVOD and Bats Bats Bats Ghost Ghost Ghost 3/4 — Elsewhere (Brooklyn, Big Girl only) with Castle Rat and Lord Friday the 13th 3/6 — The Runaway (Washington D.C., Tetchy only) 3/7 — Arson House (Richmond, VA) 3/8 — Static Age (Asheville, NC) 3/9 — MOTR Pub (Cincinnati, OH) 3/10 — Portal (Louisville, KY) 3/12 — DRKMTTR (Nashville, TN) 3/14 thru 3/17 — SXSW (Austin, TX) 3/30 — Alphaville (Brooklyn, NY)
Hot off the griddle in 2023 we bring to you and yours a big ol’ heapin’ helping of piping hot new music in the form of Monthly Mega-Playlists (TM) posted right here at the start of each and every month from here until eternity so be sure to pay us a visit every time you turn that calendar page for a DELI platter piled high with high-carb, protein-rich musical meats and cheeses prepared only for the most discerning of tastes and as a bonus in celebration of our new product launch we’re throwing at no extra cost to you the customer not one but two complimentary palate-cleansing playlists of "2022 In Review" retrospectives so best load up on Maalox and Tums cuz we’re gonna stuff you so full of musical nourishment that you’ll be begging for mercy and then begging for more more more…
If any of the above are on your bingo card for “things that share a spiritual bond with the musical duo known as Shallowhalo according to some random guy who writes for the Deli magazine” then you’re in luck because the sounds and the imagery created by Allyson Camitta and Ezra Tenenbaum working together as Shallowhalo share a certain off-kilter “something beautiful but a bit unsettling” quality with the aforementioned off-kilter cover versions, genre films, and misfit fashion plates as seen on TV…
…and if you wanna hear something beautiful but a bit unsettling may we recommend Shallowhalo’s latest single “Crystal Ball” (Dinosaur City Records) which opens with a wash of shimmering synth, a machine-tooled Moroder-esque bass line and a pulsating 808 kick drum and already in the intro you’ve got the makings of a dreamy dark-hued dance-pop gem which "Crystal Ball" definitely is, but Ezra and Allyson mix things up almost immediately with the first verse switching lanes into a slinky, somewhat boppy/synthpoppy groove like something you’d expect to hear in a vintage Euro-pop or J-pop track along the lines of Kraftwerk, Mecano, or YMO…
…but then before long there’s a short pre-chorus part that builds the tension up again with Allyson’s airy upper register hovering over a descending melody leading into the first chorus that brings back elements from the intro and introduces the titular hook (make the call / stare into your crystal ball / things you hide / and try to find / which way to go) and by the time it’s all over just over two minutes later you’ll likely be fully mesmerized…
..all of which serves to underline the fleeting, elusive quality of “Crystal Ball” whose lyrics concern an irresolute, emotionally unavailable lover who “never know[s] which way to go” to the point of being seemingly “caught in a kaleidoscope,” a fractured perspective that rubs off on the narrator as well it seems with her “head and heart so far apart” the midst of an urban existence made up of “mirrored nights [and] diamond days” all enhanced by Ezra’s use of vintage analogue synths which evoke a retro-futuristic sense of otherness in a digital world…
…and here’s where I’m reminded of Perfect Blue, the late-90s cinematic masterwork by Satoshi Kon, an animated film set in Tokyo full of recurring images of mirrors and other reflective surfaces—reflective surfaces gazed into repeatedly by the film’s protagonist, pop-idol-turned-aspiring-actress Mima Kirigoe—imagery clearly meant to mirror the blurring of any clear distinction between illusion and reality for the traumatized Mima as her psyche (and the film) shatters into a kaleidoscopic array of clashing perceptions and memories and dream logic imagery with the viewer left to figure out how the pieces fit together if they even fit at all…
…so when “Crystal Ball” starts off with the lines “paint the walls red / then brush them blue," well, surely it’s a coincidence but who says coincidence is always coincidental cuz these two lines and the rest of the song are a perfect fit for a bloody anime about the fracturing of identity, plus the J-pop setting of Perfect Blue is highly apropos for a musical combo who mention the influence of “Yen Records-inspired synth pop” in their bio…
…with Yen Records being the imprint run by Yukihiro Takahashi and Haruomi Hosono, both of Yellow Magic Orchestra, between 1982 to 1985, and with Yukihiro Takahashi having passedawayjustlastweek—right around when “Crystal Ball” was released in fact—I’m sure Shallowhalo will be ok with me dedicating part of this piece to the drummer/vocalist/songwriter/producer who had such an outsized influence on electropop/EDM from its very beginnings not to mention other genres like hip hop…
…and returning to that list that opened this whole article: no matter how head-scratching YMO’s cover of Archie Bell & The Drells “Tighten Up” may be there’s still something magical and subversive (especially for its time) about a Japanese electropop group (before “electropop” was even a thing) performing a mutated R&B classic to an all-Black audience (except for the Japanese businessman type dancing up a storm while holding a sign that simply says “Wow!”) on one of the most iconic African-American TV shows of all time and all involved having such a great time with it from the dancers to Don Cornelius to YMO themselves…
…and while Shallowhalo may not have invented any new genres (yet!) they do seem to have a knack for taking old sounds and doing something new with them, often distilling them down to a fine minimalist point, kinda like Yellow Magic Orchestra did with "Tighten Up, Pt. 1" on Soul Train back in 1980, which isn’t to say SH don’t have more relatively modern influences too ranging from Ladytron to Justice and Glass Candy to the Dare—plus the various Spanish-language pop Allyson’s Guatemalan mom played for her growing up—so check out Shallowhalo’s 2022 LP No Fun if you wanna judge for yourself or just enjoy some off-kilter synthpop songs about haunted porcelain dolls and edible jewelry and Internet celebrities and that’s just the first two songs…
..and at last I’d be remiss not to mention the Kelli McGuire-directed video for “Crystal Ball” that’s cool ’n’ strange in its own right plus it’s the reason why I cited Doris Wishman and the fembots above given the video’s lovingly handmade aesthetic that manages to be woozy and vivid and lurid and suffused with wide-eyed innocence all at the same time (see: Doris Wishman) not to mention the hyper-saturated colors and spritzes of glitter and dry ice and tarot cards and double-vision-to-the-N’th-degree and yes even an actual crystal ball and then lastly (but not leastly!) there’s the Madame-Zara-meets-Fifth-Element-meets-electrode-sporting-fembot-on-the-moon fashion sense…
…but enough of my yakkin’, it’s only right for Allyson Camitta to have the last word with some BTS insights on the "Crystal Ball" music video: "I was introduced to Kelli Mcguire through our mutual musician friend Pynkie and was instantly drawn to her aesthetic. It’s bright and lush while also feeling creepy and unsettling. We wanted to work together on a Ghost in the Shell sci-fi meets 80’s horror boudoir shoot, which my friend Caroline Mills also helped on prosthetics for. Kelli happened to shoot some BTS footage on her camera and it naturally evolved into a video concept…The video helps to reinforce that kaleidoscopic feeling of being lost in your own head about something, when the answer is right in front of you." (Jason Lee)
And here it is: the long-promised/threatened second installment of the 2022 record roundup (read installment one here) cuz as far as we’re concerned 2023 won’t truly start until February at least…
PRETTY SiCK — MAKES ME SICK MAKES ME SMILE (September 30)
Pretty Sick’s debut full-length Makes Me Sick Makes Me Smileis all about “teetering on the precipice” and being “tether[ed] to one’s own self-destruction” so in other words Tuesday, plus all those other thing that “still keep me up at night” this according to Pretty Sick’s singer-songwriter-bassist Sabrina Fuentes and MMS/MMS’s vacillation between states of queasy ecstasy and exquisite agony will most likely keep you up late as well should you choose to listen…
…an ideal soundtrack to confront your demons by during a dark night of the soul but equally ideal for freeing your demons to dance with the Devil in the pale moonlight (speaking of dark knights!) with Pretty Sick’s triple-threat musical attack—a tempestuous troika rounded out by guitarist Orazio Argentero and drummer Ava Kaufman—throwing off sparks like a downed power line at a fireworks factory…
…and for a native New York City-bred, Gen-Z digital native raised in a city where kids roam the streets like feralcats decked out in digital fur who started a rock band at age 13 and a modeling career not too long after before getting so jaded by the city, the hedonism, and the industry that they packed it in and relocated to London after being accepted to Goldsmith’s Contemporary Music Program but who now splits time between NYC and London I’d have to say that Sabrina’s songs are surprising relatable…
…casting her lot with the maladjusted and the maladroit no matter where they live and who can’t relate to a song like “Human Condition” that’s about how even in a world full of enablers and exploiters the biggest enemy of all is still found within (sorry, Whitney!) whether due to addiction, ambition, or whatever (at least that’s what we think it’s about) and the music video (dir: Frank Lebon) takes this message to the next level with its literally-mind-blowing parable of the psychosis of living in a hermetically-sealed screen culture not to mention the coolest car-crash aftermath sequence this side of “Allen Street”…
…and, finally, since you asked Makes Me Sick Makes Me Smile was produced by Paul Q. Kolderie who’s known for his work on career-making records by the likes of Radiohead, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., and Hole and speaking of Hole most coverage of Pretty Sick is all like blah blah blah Hole and blah blah blah Smashing Pumpkins and sure “The Grunge is strong in this One”
but on MMSMMS there’s also strong echoes of T. Rex meets Suzi Quatro in full-on junk-shop glam mode on the song “Bound” and of Cheap Trick’s ‘70s-era power pop perfection on the song “Heaven” and of the sparkling alt-rock melodicism of Tanya Donnelly’s Belly on the song “Dirty” so give it a spin and draw your own conclusions before tipping over the precipice and into the chasm of your own imminent self-destruction…
“I like to daydream. I’m like Ferdinand the Bull. My teachers would always get angry because I would just stare out the window all day, completely shutting them out, and I didn’t even realize I was doing it.” — Charlotte Rose Benjamin
If Makes Me Sick Makes Me Smile is a record about losing sleep then Dreamtina is about taking refuge in dreams—Dreamtina being the coming out long-player by Charlotte Rose Benjamin—dreams about, for instance, feeling truly alive on a perfect New Year’s Eve (“Heatstroke Summer”) or going to the Mall of America and never coming home again (“Deep Cut”) or posing for a scandalous Internet pictorial in a convenience store parking lot (“Cumbie’s Parking Lot”) or simply spending the day making up stories in your head (“Slot Machine”)…
…all of which Mick Jagger understood inherently and so did Devo too, namely, how modern love and economics and politics are driven by a culture-wide, pervasive sense of dissatisfaction amongst its lovers/suitors and consumers and citizens alike—it’s life the lifeblood of society in other words—meaning that any singer-songwriter worth their salt in societal relevance is always going to preface the word “satisfaction” with the phrase “I can’t get no”…
…and Charlotte is plenty salty on Dreamtina or as she puts it on her TikTok-endorsed hit “Slot Machine,” “I like martinis dirty and tequila dry / I’ve been unsatisfied since junior high” and it’s telling that even her song called “Satisfied” is actually about just the opposite with the Notorious C.R.B. tongue-in-cheekilly wishing a world-be paramour the “satisfaction” of seeing her rock out with her band at a house party, winning the deep admiration of all in attendance thus causing the would-be paramour to realize the error of his ways in passing up such a talented hottie but instead she gets flustered by this dud-of-a-dude being at the party and plays “Cumbie’s Parking Lot” in the wrong key…
…it’s a story as old as time itself and therein lies the charm of Dreamtina or one of its charms anyway in introducing a strong songwriting voice that goes all in with stark immediacy/vulnerability but with a leavening sense of bratty humor or “irreverent/insouciant wit” if you prefer, a balancing act that’s reflected in the music itself—equal parts folksy rock and frothy pop…
and even if Charlotte Rose Benjamin is far from a Southerner (which also applies to a certain country-turned-pop-singer-songwriter who’s name starts off the same as Taylor Dayne’s) it’s still surprising that Nashville hasn’t come calling (yet?) for CRB cuz who else is writing relatable but clever, hook-laden, acoustic-guitar-based folkish-countryish-but-still-rock-n-roll story songs on this level who can also pull off pink cowboy hats and fringed western wear fashions quite so convincingly so seriously you best get to it Music Row and in the meantime let’s hope this Sweet Charlotte never feels the need to hush hush…
And speaking of people who can’t be silenced, percussionist/improvisor/sound sculptor Matt Evans definitely falls under this category which I would not have known if not for the hardest-working woman in show-booking-business Laura Regan (Footlight Presents) who presented a bill featuring M. Evans at Ridgewood, Queens’s long-time anchor-of-the-community bar The Windjammer (est. 1982, and where else can you still find a $5 beer & whiskey combo in this city and not just at happy hours) alongside Issei Herr and WSABI which as the fates would have it ended up being co-presented by the Deli and how damn cool is that…
…which turned out to be fortuitous cuz not only were WSABI and Issei Herr awesome but the show culminated in one of those magic moments that even at the time you know you’ll never experience again in the same way and it started when Matt Evans was getting set up to play his headlining set celebrating the release of his new LP Soft Sciencebut his sampler (crucial to the new material) chose that moment to crap out which would no doubt freak out your average human being with a roomful of people waiting to hear them play…
…but not Matt whose gentle smile and demeanor never wavered as he explained the situation and his intention to instead play an improvised set starting with solo explorations on synth-and-trigger-pad-assisted drums followed some group explorations with the guitarist, bassist and the flautist there to help him realize the Soft Science numbers (or not!) and with that he launched into his first “drum solo”…
…which was a long way from Peter Criss sweating under his stage makeup pounding out variations on the Bo Diddley beat (all due respect to the Catman!) with Mr. Evans instead taking the audience on a subtle yet sublime sonic journey jumping from tension to release, from introspection to exorcism, like a pirouetting ballet dancer performing an off-the-cuff-but-all-the-more-magical-for-it-tour-de-force…
…and this is even before Matt had the entire audience close their eyes and launched into a percussion-assisted story from the point-of-view of a caterpillar or was it an earthworm (can’t remember for sure) burrowing up the surface of Earth for the first time encountering a series of strange and potentially injurious if not outright fatal occurrences having left its familiar warn, brown bosom with every moment of the adventure brilliantly acted out in sound on the drumset and synth as Matt described the scene, for instance, a giant foot nearly crushing the caterpillar etc…
…and then once the aforementioned musicians joined Matt—likewise playing their instruments in a very non-rock manner—the bar was raised yet again as hinted at in the video above (nothing stands in for being there tho’) and even if you’re not hearing any of it here you should still go check out Soft Science which is it’s own delightful journey from the skittering beats and wobbly synths of “Saprotrophia” to the crystalline dreamscape of “Alocasia” and I’m just now realizing that this album’s basically like a plant-based version of the caterpillar story, i.e., all about the “inner life of plants” and here’s what Matt has to say about it on his Bandcamp page…
…“Soft Science” is like reading through a biology textbook as if it were a collection of poetry and watching the letters slowly re-arrange until it reads more like science fiction. The album is a “mostly-not-chill” collection of brightly-hued maximalist miniatures, combining squiggly free drumming and alien synthesizers. The album sews together equal parts millennial iconography (mushrooms / house plants / anime) and retro-futurist sci-fi (Sam Delaney, THX 1138, Ursula Le Guin) in an expression of waning utopic yearning. The sound varies widely, from the breathing synth intro of ‘Saprotrophia’ to the lush breezes of ‘Alocasia’ and crunchy chaos of ‘Scump’ featuring (respectively) like-minded off-world sonic travelers David Lackner and Ka Baird…
…which at last brings us to the record that’s so hardcore we had to save it for last and that’s RAXIS, the debut mosh-pit-filling full-length by Venus Twins who unlike the Cocteau Twins or the Thompson Twins are made up of an actual pair of twins—identical twins at that and no one else—who may actually be from Venus which is believable cuz their blistering music sounds like it’s from the hottest and brightest planet in the solar system even if these days they split their time between Denton, Texas and Brooklyn, New York…
…both locales being well-known hot spots for undocumented Venusians like Matt Derting who has a bassline game as unrelenting and powerful as Serena Williams while being vocally aggressive too while Jake Derting draws on speed, grace, and an expansive wingspan to serve up a volley of ferocious strokes much like Venus Williams so you can see why they’re called “Venus Twins”…
…I am going to crack open your skull and scoop out the brains and eat a bowl of Fruit Loops out of it like I’m freakin’ Euronymous from Norwegian black metal legends Mayhem and then I’ll take your skull to that weirdly fancy blowing alley in the basement of the Port Authority Bus Terminal where maybe a few other human skulls have been deposited before over the years and use it to bowl a perfect game full of back-to-back Turkeys…
…or something roughly along those lines and by the time this song Cuisinarts your eardrums you won’t even mind because the Venus Twins fed your grey matter to their cats seeing as Jake and Matt are strict vegans and would never even remotely consider eating brains even the brains of a primitive Earthling…
..and what makes these ten tracks all the more brain-scraping is having them delivered by a dynamic duo who look like they could’ve pretty recently got work as body doubles for Danny Bonaduce on the classic ABC ‘70s sitcom The Partridge Family if you zapped them back in time to the show’s hardcore 1970s shag-carpeted set plus it’s amazing to think about the twins giving David Cassidy and Susan Day a heart attack when they started pounding out the Zappa-meets-Slipknot demented majesty of “Don’t Take Fix (You Are A Skelton)” or the Melvins/Mudhoney/Tad-adjacent demented majesty of “Angry Sludge Infinite” that is until it turns into a Brian Eno track near its end…
…and as someone who grew up in North Dallas (near Denton!)m and who lives in Brooklyn now I can verify for a fact that Venus Twins are the most Denton-meets-Brooklyn-Zen-diagram-of-aweso me-weirdness ever–a DNA double helix formed from one strand UNT-spawned avant-garde jazzbo, proggy avant-rock experimentalism and one strand straight-up Brooklyn-spawneddown ’n’ dirty, gritty ’n’ grungy, garage-y noise-punk like if the Cramps invited the Residents and Bad Brains to a tea party and I can’t think of a better way to end this column… (Jason Lee)
Well, it’s another year again. This column features six records I didn’t get around to reviewing in 2022 but wish that I would’ve. There’s a lot more where this came from so expect a couple more installments of "Record Roundup" at least.
My mom died a few months ago. This is for surely way too TMI for a year-end record roundup I realize but f*k it. I discovered this record by the Sadies, a band I’d barely listened to before, just days after it happened and it’s been a lifeline ever since. I mean, no doubt I’d still be into it even if my mom wasn’t dead cuz it’s that good. But being grief-striken took it to another level (RIP Mother).
The Sadies are from Toronto. They released their first album in 1998 and in the intervening years they’ve collaborated with the likes of Neil Young, Neko Case, and Gord Downie (among many others) which makes sense cuz as I’ve belatedly learned they’re the best psych-damaged, surf-inflected garage-rock-alt-country-No-Depression-that-shreds Americana bands to come out of Canada since, well, Neil Young with or without Crazy Horse.
Months before Colder Streams was released the Sadies’ lead singer and guitarist Dallas Good died unexpectedly (he co-founded the Sadies with his brother Travis) a week or so after finding out he had a coronary illness, and it’s flat out eerie how a song like “You Should Be Worried”—the gentlest, most pastoral track on the album whose lyrics in their entirety consists of two lines: “I’m not worried about you / well you should be worried about me”—was so goddamned prescient…
…to the point where I’d first assumed Dallas knew of his terminal condition much sooner given the album’s pervasive, downright apocalyptic at times sense of foreboding both in personal (it hurts me to think about what could have been / and anything that won’t ever be) and societal (in this day and age / rage has become all the rage / we choose to behave / like wolves left to starve in a cage) terms, quoting from “More Alone” but I could as easily quote any of the other song on the album…
…which kind of makes it sound like drudgery but not to worry in reality Colder Streams oozes resiliance and vibrance and stark beauty and ragged glory from every pore of its musical membrane which is why it’s been so important to me. It’s a strangly uplifting record while still being utterly, unapologetically fatalistic. I’m glad it exists. RIP Dallas Good. Five stars.
With apologies to the remaining artists, I can’t keep writing five paragraph reviews or I’ll never get through all these records not to mention the danger of “tl;dr” responses from readers so moving forward I’m self-imposing a strict 2 paragraph limit per record so hey ho let’s go…
Speaking of uplifting depression this is a phrase that also fits Colatura’s debut LP to a tee. With lead-singing and songwriting duties split between its three non-skin-pounding members—but with plenty of heavenly harmonies heard throughout—this record is an embarrassment of “beauty is sadness, sadness beauty” riches with apologies to John Keats…
…whether floating atop the Ambien-enhanced fluffy clouds of “King Kalm” (Digo) or digging up the dirt of alienated “Kids Like Us” (Meredith) or being ravished by the tremulous swoon of “Scars” (Jennica) this album puts the mellow back in melancholia just as God and/or GlaxoSmithKline intended and I’d submit it’s not a stretch to call Colartura this generation’s indie rock Carpenters especially given their knack for earworm hooks and “Rainy Days and Monday”-worthy esquisite melancholy.
Here’s another record by a trio of singers (Piya Malik, Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, Nya Gazelle Brown) that floats atop a cloud of breathy vocal harmonizing and gossamer-winged arrangements except for considerably more sanguine and with a funk/soul/R&B/orchestral disco foundation that hearkens back to 1970s/‘80s divas such as Chaka Khan (esp her post-Rufus, pre-“I Feel For You” solo work) and short-lived Australian phenom Samantha Sang with emotion takin’ her over.
For a taste of what to expect just give “Pink Roses” a spin with its tasty wah-wah-laden, tastefully fuzzed out guitar and its loose-limbed skittering rhythm section and its Secret Life of Plantsstyle keys with vocals capturing the not-so-secret sweet aroma of pink roses and ya gotta admire any group with the sheer confidence not to include the clutchofkillersingles they put out in 2022 on their maiden long-playing voyage, in particular “Forget Me Not” with its shimmying, smooth-as-silk, hustle-readyvamp that woulda shot straight to #1 if this were still 1975 (if only) leaving Van McCoy’s own mid-tempo, flute-featuring, floor-filler stranded at number two…
On their sophomore EP Laurel Canyon tip their hand early on, on the eponymous opening track with its lyrical mentions of “The Family” and “ceas[ing] to exist” so clearly we’re talkin’ less about the late-‘60s peace ‘n’ luv folkies who inhabited the LA neighborhood that lent this NYC trio its name ane more the post-Manson paranoia that took hold there and elsewhere by the early ‘70s—a mindset reinforced by the song’s serrated guitars and the gnarly harmonies that happen when two guys singing in unison veer in and out of tune with punk rock abandon and is it any suprise this record was recorded by a guy named Steve Albini?
And just in case you were wondering if Laurel Canyon the band could sustain the mood, the next track “Tangiers” opens by quoting the riff from the Kinks’ “Destroyer” (par-a-noia / the des-troy-er) or at least that’s how I hear it which ably lays the foundation for a Burroughs-in-exile, Interzone-dwelling repudation of hippie frippery (we’ll let figure out the last track “Suck and Fuck” for yourself) and having seen these guys play live at Arlenes Grocery a couple or a few months ago they came across something like The Birthday Party (Nick Cave’s career-launching, unhinged, discordant postpunk band) meets The Blues Brothers (dark shades and dark jackets, intense tunes played with a studied cool) which is an impressive flex.
And speaking of impressive flexes, Ukraine-born, Brooklyn-bred rapper Your Old Droog is fast becoming the king of the pop-culture-riffing-concept-album-in-minature noteworthy for grimy, head-bobbing, boom-bap beats and cunning, head-spinning, bailiwick-spanning virtuosic wordplay atop Dilla-indebted dusty productions having released YOD Presents: The Shining (December), The Yodfather(October), and Yodney Dangerfield (August) during the back half of 2022 alone.
The latter smartly plays off the multiple parallels between rap and stand-up—both all about the mastery of timing, wordplay, and off-the-dome improv after all. Not to mention that Rodney Dangerfield’s entire nervous-tic-laden shtick (and a good shtick it was) was him riffing on not getting the respect he deserves and what’s more hip hop than that. Your Old Droog likewiwise brings on a machine-gun flow of setups and punchlines hot ‘n’ heavy on tracks like the Jonwayne-produced, Andy Kaurfman-themed “The Man on the Moon”:
And I’m not some boom-bop apologist / I ain’t no emcee, more like an anthropologist / sociologist / knocks on the block and get studied in colleges / my latest project checks more boxes / than gynocologists
A project fronted by Gavin Dunaway in various incarnations since 2009, Imposter was inspired by Gavin’s leveling up to a new stage in life (husband, father, supposedly responsible adult) and the imposter complex he sometimes experienced in these new roles which is not uncommon but what’s uncommon is how he can shred/skronk/groove on the elektric geetar though these days his ax-weilding shares equal space with electronic textures that span from abrasive to atmospheric and if you’re into bands like oh let’s say Lower Dens, Moon Duo, and Automatic, or even latter-day Portishead (Third is very nearly 15 years old, holy crap!) or Beak if you prefer, you’ll likely appreciate this new direction…
…and I do appreciate how the squelchy electro-funk of the album-opening “No Shame” actually sounds fairly shameless—or less than trustworthy at the least but slick like a used snake oil salesmen—topped off by David Bowie-esque vocal intonations (Berlin era, totes) and hey imposter syndrome or not I’m totally buying what he’s selling wirh their new Krautrock-inflected-coldwave-meets-electro-funk-meets-goth-rocky-dirges direction (Joy Division cover, check!)…
***********************************************
…and speaking of imposter syndrome I’ll close by noting how this past year I had an actual imposter which is kind of exciting but pretty weird too who posted a job notice on ZipRecruiter claiming to be yours truly (fake picture and all) seeking to hire a new contributor to the Deli and offering up to $60K annual salary (hahahahaha) and while it’s not my fault I apologize to anyone reading this who got suckered…
…and all one had to do to apply was attend a live showcase (I’m being discrete and not naming names since I could get sued for libel) and write a review on spec which all seems like an terribly elaborate scheme just to get a few dupes to pay for a show but hey it’s like they say “don’t hate the hustle, hate the game” and anyways maybe I’m the fake “Jason Lee” living in a parallel universe cuz who says I’m even qualified to do this job and now I see where Gavin is coming from.
Enfolding its beholders in a spun sugar web of gossamer guitar lines, suspended synth drones, and crystalline chimes, the opening moments of French-Canadian-sometimes-Brooklynite-chanteuse-guitarist-songwriter-producer Sara Sue Vallee’s debut EP Skin & Bones is enigmatic enough to make one wonder at the significance of its titular date ("July 19") and its mantra-like opening lines (July 19 / July ending / July waiting / July dreaming)…
…a song that could very well be about the Great Fire of Rome ignited on the night of on July 19th, 64 AD at Circus Maximus with tens of thousands fleeing for their lives (nowhere to run…escaping the confining space) and many more when the conflagration spread (oh God, wait, there’s no escape) which ultimately led to the decimation of over half the city and no small number of its residents (disintegrating, pieces of flesh are falling off my skin) as Nero infamously fiddled away and surveyed the damage from afar (spying on the people all around)…
…then again it could just as easily be about the so-called Chappaquiddick incident that happened on the night of July 19, 1969 when Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car over the edge of a dark, narrow bridge and into the Nantucket Sound after departing a nearby party resulting in the drowning death of his female passenger from the soireé (political aide Mary Jo Kopechne) and when it was discovered that Ted fled the scene it all but ended his presidential ambitions…
…and indeed “July 19” does have an underwater, submerged quality with its shimmering guitar and sepulchral bass and hovering-overhead keys with Ms. Vallee confirming she intended the song to have a “sense of feeling trapped underwater” (see full interview below!) and could it be mere coincidence that its music video features a bridge (the Williamsburg Bridge that is) with Sara Sue gliding across its pedestrian walkway like a woman who’s possessed by the ghost of an idealistic young boiler room girl unaware of her own tragic fate…
…and if we’re gonna go full-on spirit-possession crazed onspiracy theory here it’d be worth observing how in the clip above Sara Sue adamantly states she’s changed her ways "since the accident" (hmmm)and sure the clip is taken from a fiction film but one written/produced by and staring Ms. Vallee and, oh yeah, besides being a singer-songwriter you may have gathered that she’s an actress, screenwriter and director too who moved to NYC to attend the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and the Lee Strasberg Institute…
…which is maybe why a song like "July 19" is more actorly than historical, like an indie film focused more on day-to-day situations and ruminations whose very significance is their insignificance (“We always remember the big moments in life but what about the rest?") which is why Sara Sue chose a date that doesn’t mean anything to her and speaking of actorly Skin & Bones wasconceived as four cinematic-style tableaus, a tetrology of stand-alone short-films-in-sound like Four Rooms or Tales From The Hood except better (sorry Quintin and Spike!) showcasing a range of musical personae like a slick acting reel meant to show off an actor’s best assets…
…across four elemental mood pieces with an emphasis on elemental seeing as its songs are easily mapped onto the matrix of earth/water/fire/air or they are in my mind at least just take "Meadow Avenue": its verses are down ‘n’ dirty earthy in a Serge Gainsbourg/Brigitte Bardot Gallic-funk-with-a-cocksure-strut kinda way, but then the pre-chorus (0:27) goes all wavy/watery with its swirling, circling melodies and roundabout 6/4 time and then when the chorus proper comes in it’s got a fiery heart-baring hook and finally toward the end there’s an airy, etherial bridge section (1:43) so yeah you get the gist…
…sounds made to match Skin &Bones‘ equally elemental, raw-boned lyrical content assembled cut-and-paste-style from fragments of Sara Sue’s own diary entries, voice memos and random thoughts scrawled on the backs of envelopes and chocolate wrappers with a recurring thematic motif of being driven “over the edge” not by a sitting US Senator but by emotionally unavailable lovers more concerned with ripping bong hits than with long-term commitments and the like and other topics like loneliness and overthinking, social media addiction, and corrosive lifestyle choices so in other words we are totally relating to this and you probably will too…
…and while I’m no Marlon Brando I’d venture that method acting is relevant here where the idea is to build up a mental rolodex of intense memories, emotions, and experiences to be called upon later for actorly inspiration—mixed and matched where appropriate for a specific scene or role which is pretty much exactly like what Sara Sue idd with this record, raiding a decade’s worth of diaries and the like, distilled down into the four sketches on Skin & Bones which is undeniably good value for your dollar…
…call it “method songwriting” if you must with the EP serving as an ideal case study with a key finding being how much it’s the music on its own that really takes you to those places—from the submerged emotional Atlantis of “July 19” to the fiery yearning of “Meadow Avenue," from the airy come-hither funk of “My Sweet Mary Jane” to the earthbound stock-taking of “Before It Ends”…
…and with enough subtle little sonic touches scattered throughout to keep you coming back for more which, personally, I’m a sucker for the asymmetric metrics and odd-numbered stanzas that pop up here and there but if you’re looking for a good, non-technical pull quote for the whole thing I’d go with “permanently-sun-dappled-Quebecqois-by-way-of-Gotham-singer-songwriter Sara Sue Vallee produces a winning anglophone amalgamation of Vanessa Paradis and Liz Phair and Avril Lavigne on her debut EP Skin & Bones” and in closing we’d be remiss not to shout out Sara Sue’s collaborators who helped with realizing her vision, namely, guitarist/co-producer Antoine Bensoussan, drummer Emmanuel Trottier-Marcotte, sound mixer Tim Buron, and Jean-Patrice Remillard aka “Pheek” on mastering duties and please keep reading after the jump to hear from the auteur herself.. (Jason Lee)
Sara Sue Vallee: When I was young I wanted to become a singer. But there were no classes to take in the town where I’m from. So my mom enrolled me in acting classes.
But I always had this voice telling me in the back of my head that I wanted to make music. Over the years, even when I was younger, I was always writing lyrics and recording stuff whenever I could.
I remember when I was 14, I received a guitar. But then something happened that I stopped playing. Then I moved to New York and studied acting…was really focused on acting but then COVID happened. And I was like, “I have all this material. This is it, I’m using this chance to make my jump into music. OK, let’s do an EP.”
On the genesis of Skin & Bones…
SSV: I picked four songs out, worked them into their current form, and was planning to move back to the US. But then there were visa issues and with COVID still happening I decided to finish school here [in Montreal] before moving back to NYC.
Which turned out for the best but it was strange how it all happened. Without COVID, music would have never happened. Not the EP either.
I produced the EP with my guitar teacher Antoine Bensoussan who’s also the guitarist on the record. And It wasn’t like renting some place. I’d go to his home studio. He has the whole setup and we would do everything there, and not have to be on the clock all the time.
We worked on the four songs and hired a drummer—Emmanuel Trottier-Marcotte, one of his friends—and I knew someone who we approached about the mixing. I met Tim Buron about 8 years ago while I was working as a waitress. He’s a well-knoen, high-level mixer. So I approached him, “I know you work for really big artists, but are you willing to mix my EP?”
So he gave me a special rate and I hired him. I’m really glad I did, really grateful. He’s one of the top audio mixers in Montreal. It was the culmination of a dream for me.
On the creative process…
SSV: I don’t write in French, because I consume much of my music in English, and I’m inspired by English language musicians.
Some parts of the EP were written when I was living in New York. I remember where I was sitting, on the promenade, looking at the view with the bridge and everything.
And it’s so strange—one section is from this part of my life, and another section is from much later on. And it kind of worked out in a way to make the structure work. I remember where I wrote each individual section.
A lot of the record is inspired by destructive relationships, people that I met over the years. So it’s a mix-and-match in that way too.
On coloring outside the lines…
SSV: We worked on each song separately. The goal was not to make a unified whole out of it. Each piece was unique. Since this is my first entry into music it was really important for me to explore each song individually and to see what they could bring to the table on their own.
Sometimes we would sit down and I was like, “I hear city sounds,” or “I feel under the water.” Like for “July 19” I had this sense of feeling trapped under the water, so I wanted to hear this really low bass, hmmmm, or to hear street sounds in the city. So we took our time to really buildanimage for each song and to work from there.
I think, since it’s the first time for me, I wrote [the songs] a certain way. And I wasn’t ready to change them to fit a certain style. I was like, “No!” Why should I accomodate, just because this is supposed to be a certain type of song?”
So I was like, “Let’s put the chorus first and then the post-chorus, mix things up, and let’s have nine lines instead of eight. Because that’s how I heard the song and I wasn’t prepared to make any changes. It was produced independently and the vision was mine.
On influences…
SSV: When it comes to acting, I think it’s influence is more in the writing. Because when I write, I visualize a music video. Automatically.
And it’s like I’m acting in the music video, doing all the action, and I write down what I see. This becomes part of the lyrics. It’s like I’m acting the song and that’s how I visualize it.
For musical influences, when I was young, definitely the Spice Girls. They were the first. And then there was Avril Lavigne. And Beyoncé. Pink. Fergie. All of those. And then Amy Winehouse changed things for sure, the deepness of her songs. Lana Del Rey too. The writing is just poetic.
As for the sound, I’ve really been liking Suki Waterhouse. Gracie Abrams. Miley Cyrus. Lyrics may be relatively simple but I like the sound and the emotion behind it. For me, I really like when I can hear a story. And feel it.
On the songs…
SSV: Skin and Bones. Raw. I’m exposing myself, my real self, behind the actor self.
July 19: The date came out of nowhere. And that was important because it’s a random date, and it’s all about those…we always remember the big moments in life, but what about the rest? And that made me wonder what about this random date, what could happen? It made me realize those dates that I don’t have anything happening, a lot of time, I waste my time comparing myself to others who do have big things on those dates.
What if I’m lonely? What am I doing? How am I using my time? And it was more this sense of “what am I doing when I’m alone?”
Meadow Lane: It’s not a real place! It’s me peeking through my window and waiting for my boyfriend to come home. And he’s walking down the street, and I see him bump into a girl on Meadow Lane.
And seeing him fall in love with this girl. At the window, seeing everything, happening in front of my eyes. That’s the story.
Mary Jane: It’s about addiction. It’s about a guy who loves drugs more than his girlfriend—to have the drug by his side. And it came out naturally, almost aggressively pop. But that’s how I heard it.
Before It Ends: It was written half and half. Part of it was in New York, when I fell in love with this guy who didn’t care about me. And then he got back in touch a couple of years ago. It was confusing, because I was now in a relationship.
So I was like, “maybe he’s the one.” But I was really young and the inexperienced. There is no the one. It’s more like you connect with this person, and you make it work or you don’t.
And then, to finish writing this song, I used my imagination to see my current relationship if we were going through the long distance thing.
On music videos…
The video for “July 19” was shot on my last trip in New York, in spring. It was fun. I’d met this photographer and we really bonded. And I asked him, “Are you down to shoot a music video?” I had the demo with me, and we took his phone and played the song.
It was funny, I was lip-synching just walking down the street in Brooklyn. It felt so awkward at first, just walking down the street and singing. And on the bridge. I was like, “oh, this is so strange!” But people don’t care.
It was also strange for me looking at the camera. As an actor you usually avoid eye contact with the camera. But I had to look at the camera and lip-synch. It’s breaking the fourth wall.
…but in reality Church Crush are neither a sexyChristian boy band nor a church-burning black metal band as you may think from their name but instead a Brooklyn-based indie combo with a talent for writing songs that are at once both stripped-down and expansive, or at least that’s the vibe we’re getting based on the first two singles and attending a live show…
…with prickly post-punk textures wedded to flowing, mellifluous melodies and hypnotic in-the-pocket rhythms—just check out that sweet hi-hat work on their debut “calyer” when it comes to the latter—and here’s where the name Church Crush starts to make sense cuz the name aligns with their sound given the band’s minimalist panache (three syllables for a three-piece band!) and their use of stark juxtaposition to open up new sonic worlds…
…all of which applies directly to the their second single "shark island" whose title sounds like another one of those fridge-magnet phrases or maybe more like a Z-grade horror flick riding the seemingly endless wave of cinematic shark tales where bad acting, cheap digital effects, and winking self-awareness are practically apropos especiallyin a post-Sharknado universeand it’s a bit odd isn’t it how shark movies are now an entire sub-genre of film despite them posing practically zero threat to the vast expanse of humanity, I mean, you’re statistically more likely to die from an errant champaign cork than a shark attack but I digress…
…and that’s the cool thing about "shark attack" is how it’s more Jaws than Sharknado with the taut plotting of Spielberg’s OG blockbuster as its model (minus the musical equivalent of CGI splatter or winking self-aware shlockiness) built on a straight-forward-but-highly-effective, herky-jerky-but-locked-in-tight dirty overdriven riff played in waltz time with a forward momentum as relentless as a never-napping Great White named Bruce…
…but be forewarned if you ever actually tried to waltz to the song you’ll likely tear a ligament or two cuz this is one of the heavier (and herky-jerkier!) waltz-time rockers since the Beatles’ "I Want You (She’s So Heavy)" that is until it gets to the safe-and-stable-sounding chorus section with its chorus-effects-pedal sustained Andy Summers-esque guitar chords played over a steady, symmetrical 4/4 rhythm with the vocals exalting the safe refuge provided by "SHARK!…iiiiissssllllaaannndddd"…
…that is until about the 2:30 mark where the whole things sounds like it’s being sucked into the ever-hungry vengeful maws of Jaws with all the instruments throbbing in unison and I’d happily listen to an extended version of "Shark Island" with this blink-and-you-miss-it part expanded to a full minute or two hint hint before paddling off into the sunset with a brief, nearly a cappella coda…
…but hey maybe the song has nothing to do with sharks at all in which case mea culpa so I got in touch with the members of Church Crush (ames o, paulie v, adam e) to pose a few shark-and-non-shark-related questions about “shark island” to these three lower-case-loving gentlemen and all you have to do is to continue reading after the jump to see what they had to say… (Jason Lee)
The Deli Mag: Where is/what is the “shark island” to which you refer in the lyrics?
church crush: “shark island” is a place you retreat to that feels familiar, yet desolate and scary. like you’ve got your own habitat but it’s kind of hostile and bizarre. visualizing a “shark island” helped drive the weird spooky energy we were getting from the chords and lyrics.
TDM: How did y’all get that cool guitar sound?
cc: we recorded the guitars mainly using the stereo chorus of the Roland JC-120 as well as a combination of reverb, lite distortion and compression to glue it all together. the overall distorted sound is the result of applying these effects (and more) to each instrument to give the mix a gritty sound that maintains the energy of how we heard it in our heads.
TDM: What is your favorite shark movie? Or your least favorite?
cc: Finding Nemo. the sharks self-reflect and are honest with themselves about their violent behavior, and support each other’s commitment to real change. we like that.
TDM: The stop-start rhythm in the verses is cool. How’d y’all come up with that?
cc: we just tried the verse chords over a variety of drum beats, eventually settling on one that kept the groove of the song while providing contrast to the chorus. love at first sight!
TDM: Do you believe people should be more afraid of sharks, or less afraid of sharks, or rest assured we’re already just the right amount afraid of sharks?
cc: less. I mean if you want to be out in the ocean you have to respect that they’re there too. frankly, the scenario of a sharkless ocean is scarier if you think about it. way more terrified of bears and tick-borne illness at this point.
TDM: Would you mind sharing the lyrics to the song?
cc: you say / run away / find somewhere / across the sea
shark island
you say / fly away / your wings won’t spread / you’ve lost yourself
shark island
Moon Kissed get it too. For one thing, there’s three of them. Leah (drums/guitar), Emily (keys, vibes), and Khaya (mic/voice). And there’s three songs included on their latest EP, I’m On My Way, from earlier this year. In other words, they got this whole "Game of Threes" thing locked down. Not to mention how three years ago the Brooklyn-based threesome held their first CAN’T DENY THE CHEMISTRY three-part residency with “Sex, Drugs, and Rock ’n’ Roll” as the chosen theme.
Then, last December they hit us with CAN’T DENY THE CHEMISTRY part two a.k.a. “Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice” as 2021’s tripartite theme spread over three nights with attendees on "Sugar" night encouraged to wear pastel pasties and candy underwear whereas Spice night it was leather and assless chaps and on Everything Nice night it was poodle skirts, slicked-back hair, and suburban ‘50s working husbands working a thong so yeah you get the idea.
And much like the neopagan goddess trinities of yore, Moon Kissed summon the magical, mystical chemistry of the number three with three-part parties aiming for more than your average rock show where “the purpose of these residencies isn’t just about seeing a show, it’s about having a night…going somewhere with your close friends that feels new and different, making new friends that feel old and familiar” with the help of a rotating cavalcade of hand-selected guest bands joining them at each installment.
And here we are in December 2022 which means that Khaya, Leah, and Emily are hosting their third three-part Chemistry residency with “Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell” as the theme this time around, and having already attended the first act of the third trilogy on 12/6/22 a.k.a. the Heaven Session our "force" was certainly awakened thanks to high-octane sets by Moon Kissed and very special guest Sir Chloe blowing the roof off God’s House (a.k.a. Baby’s All Right) with the overall divine party vibes only amplified by the amped-up audience dressed to the nines in heavenly garb…
…as witnessed above in a series of exclusive audience “vox pops” recorded at the show last week—with The Deli posing probing questions along the lines of “what is heaven to you?” and “what is sin to you?” and “what is the afterlife to you?” to attendees—and as witnessed also in the video at the top of this page, a Deli-exclusive film montage of Moon Kissed on stage last Tuesday as filmed and edited by Daniel Moore with more "Deli Magazine Films" to come no doubt…
…and as you may have already guessed “Purgatory” is up next this Thursday (12/15) with fashion ideas including “mesh, glitter, messy eye makeup, a realistic robot arm, SO much hair gel, and condoms as earrings,” and with Raavi opening the night and Amber Valentine DJing, it’s guaranteed to be another barn burner filled to the rafters with highly combustible good vibrations…
…and when it comes to the whole Purgatory theme it’s admittedly a bit more ambiguous than either Heaven or Hell but that’s cool cuz here at the Deli we’re all about complexity and nuance and being mildly confused by life plus it feels apropos to Moon Kissed’s latest release, i.e. I’m On My Way, which after all was recorded during the purgatory-like period of the last major NYC lockdown about a year ago…
with songs “centered around a theme of stuckness and…different angles of breaking free” and with the EP overall being “one step along the way to telling a longer story that is our 3rd album, which is looking like it’s gonna be a story landing…somewhere” so take that George Lucas and stick it up your Disney Plus 🙂
And, finally, just for kicks we asked the members of Moon Kissed which one of their songs outside of the EP (too obvious!) best put across being in a Purgatory-like state and they replied with “‘Cavalier’, a song about existential dread [and] the repetitive nature of sinking and pulling yourself back up, and ‘Cycles’, a song about the loop of dating shitty guys," a live performance of which can be witnessed below…
…with Moon Kissed going on to explain that “our take on Purgatory is like early 2000s indie sleaze DJ culture meets mysticism. Like Paris Hilton giving a psychic reading at the red room in Twin Peaks. DJ Pauly D sitting in a hot tub, music pumping, talking aloud to himself about what happens after death" so now you know the vibes.
And these are vibes you def won’t wanna miss if you’re anywhere near Brooklyn this Thursday night at which point you’ll wanna gussy yourself up in mesh and glitter and runny mascara and screw on that robot arm tight in prep for the strange satisfaction of Purgatory. (Jason Lee)
If you wanna skip straight to Mandala’s song-by-song liners notes (and who could blame you, they’re excellent!) then simply scroll down to after the jump…
In his magnum opus The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet’s Mind; An Autobiographical Poem, no less an authority than OG emo poet William Wordsworth (straight outta Cockermouth!) proclaimed poetry to be the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotion recollected in tranquillity but the rock combo known as Mandala (straight outta Waterbury!) take a slightly different tact on their third LP Basement Flower Bouquet with its spontaneous overflow of powerful emotion recollected intasty licks and tasty grooves whether tranquil or tempestuous…
…and it’s those licks and grooves that really do the trick—plus some of whatever was in those red cup “blooms” on the cover if any’s left over—since not too many people read 300-plus-page autobiographical poems in blank verse these days with most being more inclined to find emotional release in a near hour’s worth of sleek-yet-grungy, aching-yet-uplifting pop-rock songs that draw upon a musical menagerie of influences…
….including (warning: highly speculative!) Byrd-y folk rock, jam band jammage (minus the noodling!) and Southern rock boogie crossed with psych and prog, jazz and R&B, garage and indie with a dash of doo-wop/girl-group pop for good measure especially on “Lucid Dreams” which compares favorably with the Ronettes in the “woo-woo-woo” backing vocal department…
…and here’s a pull quote if you need one: “Mandala are the rare rockers today who are able to move between extremes of smoothitude and shreditude with ease and assurance” and just check out “Better Now” if you don’t believe me opening with a slow tom-tom beat (Sean Connelly) and a loping bassline (Matt Rosano) that for a couple seconds sounds like a lost outtake from Sly Stone’s dystopic blunted-out-soul classic There’s A Riot Goin’ On but then the mood shifts with the arrival of shimmering, suspended guitar chords and playful vocal interplay between co-vocalists Morgan Fasanelli and Abe Azab…
…who banter back-and-forth in a state-of-the-relationship scenario something like an indie rock “I Got You Babe” except more like “I Lost You Babe” ammirite and compared with Sonny & Cher’s tuneless bleating (just joshing, we love y’all!) the vocals on “Better Now” are by turns supple, nuanced and powerful perfectly mirroring the song’s musical progression which starts off smoooooth as Smoove B hitting on Christine McVie back at an office Christmas party which you’ve probably guessed is an imaginary scenario…
…up until the head-bobbing, foot-stomping, super-hooky chorus that is culminating in some tasty-lick-heavy-shredding by either Abe Azab or Chris Desiderio (sorry, not sure which, but check out the end of “Snake Song” for even more intense shredding) and a brass counterpoint all of which no doubt took some serious work to arrange while still retaining the emotional spark that gave the song its impetus in the first place which is exactly what Wordsworth was getting at I think…
…a balancing act that for bands requires an almost extrasensory level of shared intuition between musicians to pull off which Mandala pulls off with aplomb on Basement Flower Bouquet no doubt in part thanks to their having “spent over 365 days jamming in the basement” where Mandala rehearse and hang out “organically creating the music” before collectively moving to LA to record this according to Morgan with Sean chiming in that the experience was “life changing for the better…who knows where we’d be without it” and if a band can actually spend that much time together without it turning into Season One of Yellowjackets then it’s a band I haven’t been in yet but would like to be…
…but then I’ve never been in a band where one of its members (Morgan) lends shelter to another member (Abe) who’s been left homeless for several months before leaving for college and using the time together to further fine-tune their musical alignment and now I can see why the band is called Mandala seeing as mandalas are all about mental/spiritual alignment (get those chakras balanced, baby!)…
…and those Buddhist monks who sit for hours or even days arranging colored sand into intricate geometric patterns only to sweep it all away when they’re done aren’t that different from indie musicians sitting for hours or even days arranging tone-colored sounds into intricate patterns of licks, riffs, and grooves in order to form a larger entity serving as an aid to mediation or a “psychologic expression of the self” or a means to “transform a universe of suffering into one of joy” which is roughly what “Thought We Could Bloom” is about and it’s got the perfect sound to match, a shot of sunshine pop that rocks as satisfyingly as Blind Melon’s "No Rain" which ably helps get across its message of staying afloat in a sink or swim world…
…and finally one other thing people associate with madalas is "hippies" hoping to catch a wave to the next astral plane via mystic doodles or at least to end up with some nice wall hangings and Mandala’s Morgan embodies this ‘60s/‘70s hippie chick sensibility beautifully with her biker-mama-in-training (editors note: speculative) mirror shades and whirling-dervish-with-a-tambourine stage presence like she’s the secret lovechild of Janis Joplin and Robert Plant with Steve Nicks as her godmother and Helen Reddy as her emotional support Canadian if that makes any sense…
…which would help explain her impressively agile whispy-ff-to-gritty-gravelly vocal range as well and the flower child frequencies heard in much of Mandala’s music more generally across the spectrum of peace-sign flashing groovitude to the occasional Manson/Altamont/Kent State acid flashback like in the outro of “Snake Song” which would be right at home played over the PA at a Hogs, Halter Tops, and Huffing Biker Crank convention not that the clean-cut young adults in Mandala would ever attend such an event just witness their notes on track #6 below and stay off the dope kids…
…but hey enough of my yakkin’ cuz who wouldn’t wanna hear from the band themselves about what these songs are about and how they came about and lucky for all involved Mandala were kind enough to provide some substantive annotations for each of the album’s sweet sixteen tracks so settle in for the ride while we pop Basement Flower Bouquet into the van’s eight-track and all you need to do is lose yourself in the tasty licks and groovy grooves and stirring lyrics within while learning some behind the scenes details while we drive our windowless van down by the river and nevermind the Rambo-style hunting knife or the oil drum full of hydrofluoric acid in the back they’re for my nephew’s school play. (Jason Lee)
“Cowboy Classic”, as the studio version, is a song that developed over time. Theintro was actually thought of by Morgan after being inspired by A$AP Ferg & Rocky’s “Pups” track. We wanted to set the tone for the record, ring the alarms cause mandala is coming. Opening the entire record with the line “Don’t you call me anymore” this record is personal. The entire record of “Basement Flower Bouquet” lyrically written with passion by Morgan Fasanelli, Abe Azab, Chris Desiderio.
2.) Better Now
Written by our lead singers Abe Azab and Morgan Fasanelli, Abe brought us this song just on an electric guitar. The development of the bridge and the horns section was orchestrated by our drummer, reaching out to local musicians from Connecticut to bring this record together. Keeping with our whimsical attitudes, the video for this was the first one we shot after moving out here to LA. Directed by a friend we met here, we’re trying to continue with our gorilla antics going all over the state to shoot these scenes of Morgan on a date with a mannequin in public. The song itself, written by Abe Azab and Morgan Fasanelli, is about growth – a constant theme in Abe’s focused writing, whereas Morgan writes in freestyles & jams, or as written poems translated. All mostly focusing on the past, and the future, with Better Now being their touch on the present.
3.) Cyanopsia
What started as a 9-minute synth jam, the lyrics “Here I am begging for change, Here I am calling your name. I can see in the lights, when you hide” flowed as a freestyle from lead singer Morgan Fasanelli, which is how the group writes most of their songs. The song then transitioned to what the group refers to as the start of this record, being one of the first songs they began to demo in their home studio. “I can remember the first time we played this song live, we were in Brooklyn, and I was scared. I was scared to play the song because it felt like something we weren’t supposed to share. But we did, and it was beautiful. I named it Cyanopsia, because It was at a time where I was feeling very blue. So after some research, as psych majors do, I thought okay, babies can have a yellow tint on their eyes, I had that – I wonder if you can have a tint of blue? Low and behold, Cyanopsia is a medical term for seeing everything tinted with blue. It is also referred to as blue vision.” – Morgan Fasanelli
4.) Lucid Dreams
“I could be someone that you knew back then. When I wasn’t cool, wasn’t good enough for you” – Lucid Dreams feels like our anthem song on the album. With a punchy strong chorus from Abe Azab screaming “I paid my price. Started working on my family ties. If an offer’s waiting on the table, are you working on your spite” this song is genuinely about high school. It’s about reflecting back and recognizing personal growth, as we call it a “glow up”. “And if I act elusively, it’s cause I’m slipping in a lucid dream” – basically saying, when someone starts acting up when they have a dream on their mind or feel larger than life. Everyone in the group has their own story, and we try to remind each other of where we came from.
5.) Party Girl
“If these walls could talk, they’d say the truth. Or in other words, the things they’d say to you” – Party girl is about miscommunication. The root of most problems and the root of the feeling of frustration for lead singer Morgan Fasanelli, especially in queer relationships. This song feels like a lost love, something bittersweet. When the bridge breaks down and Sean Connelly, drummer of the group, is wailing on the cymbals and Morgan is screaming “History, and bullshit, and feelings aside, these walls know my secrets and they’re on my side. I bet you didn’t know that. All of the history and all of the lines, you tell your stories I will tell mine. BUT I HOPE YOU’RE DOING REALLY GREAT RIGHT NOW” – then we kick back in on four hits. Giving the perception we’re talking to somebody directly. We released this song as a hit single for this record and it’s doing pretty well right now!
6.) I’m Not Into Dope
A very old Mandala song, originally written in 2015 – it began as a release of emotion over one of our close friends becoming heavily addicted to drugs. Many fans of ours fell in love with the song, but we’ve never worked on or released a full studio version until now! With haunting vocals, the opening lyrics sing “Last fall, you said you’re coming home from war” – as in coming back to reality from a binge.
7.) Thought We Could Bloom
“Thought that we could bloom from just the sun in your eyes, I know I’ve got a tight grip like it right by your side. Just doing what I’m told, daddy said hold on tight. Sink or swim world. Don’t drown without a fight, hello!” – another freestyle from Morgan, which started just her and her ukulele during quarantine while she was in NYC for school. Throughout that time endless voice memos and zoom writing meetings took place between her and guitarist Abe Azab, and Abe Azab and Chris Desiderio – who at the time was in LA for school. For this song, and others written via phone like “Connecticut” – written by Chris Desiderio. The outro of “Thought We Could Bloom” was also a part cultivated on Morgan’s ukulele that bassist Matt Rosano and guitarist Abe Azab made their own, in a luigi’s mansion kind of way that we loved.
8.) Connecticut
What’s interesting about “Connecticut” is that it was written by Chris in LA, it’s almost like a breakup song with the entire state, or a girl, but it became our breakup song with the state as we were moving away. We love CT, and we miss it every day we’re out here, but we just wanted to travel our sounds to the west and try to expand our fanbase for a couple years….wink wink! We thought it was a good single to release as our first song back after our move to LA, an ode to our home. The music video, we actually got to shoot in CT while we were home recording, after living in LA. The cover, we shot in LA! Love to trick people.
9.) Never Forget
“Never Forget” is a song that came about right in the basement during our recording process. When Chris came home for a session, we all had a bit of a frame for the song and everything came together in like 20 minutes between melody, instrumentals, and lyrics. Our bassist at the time, Matt Rosano, had some very sick ideas for D&B between him and Sean that really helped us find the flow. Singing of having no money, constantly drinking, and eating poorly – Morgan takes inspiring words like “Should I fly by or try to, get better without a clear view” to uplift listeners. Rounding the song off with group vocals singing “I don’t know if it’s getting any better, but i know that I might be okay”.
10.) On & On
A song Morgan started in 2018 as a ukulele demo while living in New York, it was presented to the group during quarantine as just a little diddy and grew into an explosion of emotion. The track on the record you will hear Morgan playing her baritone ukulele to start it off, and the instrumentals – drum and acoustic were actually taken as a live take. We felt it had more energy and we could quite get the timing right doing it like studio robots, so we tracked it live and it came out awesome. Reminiscent of grief and longing, this song holds very close to Morgan’s heart.
11.) Starships (It’s Going Down)
The one-two kicker of the record, with a super fun turnover. This song is very surf-rocky in our opinion. The four or five of us, really whoever is around, would all meet up in the basement in New Britain, CT – aka our “home studio”, and we would just play and play and play. The vision for this song was literally – lighter hitting the fuse, rocket ship taking off, us feeling like we don’t know what to do, crash landing on an alien planet and then needing help. We took those feelings and tried to let them guide us, but all of that kind of happens at once while we’re jamming. We’ll turn and be like “feels like this..” and then go onto a story. Chris, directed our music video for this song, and was able to shape those feelings into a visual for us!
12.) Ruby Red
One of the most organic songs on the record, this came about within 20 minutes of riffing on the guitar. Morgan, Abe, and Sean spent all of 2020 as neighbors – able to jam whenever necessary and this one just came about one day. Not usually focusing on the happiness of everything, Ruby Red is a new sexy side of Mandala. Morgan wears a red ring, from her partner – and wrote this song with her in mind, the gag is….her ring is a garnet! Guitarist Abe Azab directed and shot this video, with the rest of the group Morgan, Sean and Chris – producing and doing stagecraft and costumes. Ruby Red Official Music Video
13.) Wishing & Waiting
One of our favorite’s off this record, this song was written at 4am by Abe and Morgan one late night while she was in town for a string of shows. The cultivation process of a song is very important for us. We aren’t a band sitting down going let’s write a song for this, or trying to sound like this. We just play what comes out and usually go from there tweaking it. Normally starting as freestyles, or riffs Morgan and Abe get together and they have the magic touch. Our touring guitarist Michael Baz executed the solo for that song while we were writing as a full group, and we were like “this has to be on the record. It makes us feel something”. Another song inspired by queer love this song touches on just how close the queer community is, and the worldy joke that everyone tries to stay friend’s with their exes.
14.) With or Without You
One day after a show in CT in 2017, Chris and Morgan went back to his place to jam instead of hang out and party, typical post show moves. They sat by the fire with his dog, trying to write some songs and started this beautiful melody. Dedicated & Inspired by Chris’ father Jeff, who had passed shortly before we started writing, this song is about getting by. A bit of a hollow feeling to it. In the studio we were able to get the drums so shimmery on the chorus’ – it’s one of our favorite sounds on the record.
15.) Snake Song
A song that started off as a freestyle demo between Morgan and Abe soon turned into a sneaky little rock song. One of the more intricate drum tracks Sean did. “We were just trying to catch a vibe writing this song, once that first mysterious riff played, we thought this is like a slithering snake” – Sean Connelley says. The entire song is like a slithering snake, and then it explodes into the chorus, but sneaks back down again – and explodes into a guitar solo inspired by the late Eddie Van Halen.
16.) Piece of My Love
The closer on the album, it just felt right. We spent over 400 hours having fun at Pharaoh Studios, and we were able to add all of us clapping and cheering for ourselves after finishing this record, which you can hear at the end of “Piece of My Love”. This song is the sweeter side of Mandala, with harmonious vocals from Abe and Morgan, we were able to just flow on this song.
If you wanna skip straight to Mandala’s song-by-song liners notes (and who could blame you, they’re excellent!) then simply scroll down to after the jump…
In his magnum opus The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet’s Mind; An Autobiographical Poem, no less an authority than OG emo poet William Wordsworth (straight outta Cockermouth!) proclaimed poetry to be the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotion recollected in tranquillity but the rock combo known as Mandala (straight outta Waterbury!) take a slightly different tact on their third LP Basement Flower Bouquet with its spontaneous overflow of powerful emotion recollected intasty licks and tasty grooves whether tranquil or tempestuous…
…and it’s those licks and grooves that really do the trick—plus some of whatever was in those red cup “blooms” on the cover if any’s left over—since not too many people read 300-plus-page autobiographical poems in blank verse these days with most being more inclined to find emotional release in a near hour’s worth of sleek-yet-grungy, aching-yet-uplifting pop-rock songs that draw upon a musical menagerie of influences…
….including (warning: highly speculative!) Byrd-y folk rock, jam band jammage (minus the noodling!) and Southern rock boogie crossed with psych and prog, jazz and R&B, garage and indie with a dash of doo-wop/girl-group pop for good measure especially on “Lucid Dreams” which compares favorably with the Ronettes in the “woo-woo-woo” backing vocal department…
…and here’s a pull quote if you need one: “Mandala are the rare rockers today who are able to move between extremes of smoothitude and shreditude with ease and assurance” and just check out “Better Now” if you don’t believe me opening with a slow tom-tom beat (Sean Connelly) and a loping bassline (Matt Rosano) that for a couple seconds sounds like a lost outtake from Sly Stone’s dystopic blunted-out-soul classic There’s A Riot Goin’ On but then the mood shifts with the arrival of shimmering, suspended guitar chords and playful vocal interplay between co-vocalists Morgan Fasanelli and Abe Azab…
…who banter back-and-forth in a state-of-the-relationship scenario something like an indie rock “I Got You Babe” except more like “I Lost You Babe” ammirite and compared with Sonny & Cher’s tuneless bleating (just joshing, we love y’all!) the vocals on “Better Now” are by turns supple, nuanced and powerful perfectly mirroring the song’s musical progression which starts off smoooooth as Smoove B hitting on Christine McVie back at an office Christmas party which you’ve probably guessed is an imaginary scenario…
…up until the head-bobbing, foot-stomping, super-hooky chorus that is culminating in some tasty-lick-heavy-shredding by either Abe Azab or Chris Desiderio (sorry, not sure which, but check out the end of “Snake Song” for even more intense shredding) and a brass counterpoint all of which no doubt took some serious work to arrange while still retaining the emotional spark that gave the song its impetus in the first place which is exactly what Wordsworth was getting at I think…
…a balancing act that for bands requires an almost extrasensory level of shared intuition between musicians to pull off which Mandala pulls off with aplomb on Basement Flower Bouquet no doubt in part thanks to their having “spent over 365 days jamming in the basement” where Mandala rehearse and hang out “organically creating the music” before collectively moving to LA to record this according to Morgan with Sean chiming in that the experience was “life changing for the better…who knows where we’d be without it” and if a band can actually spend that much time together without it turning into Season One of Yellowjackets then it’s a band I haven’t been in yet but would like to be…
…but then I’ve never been in a band where one of its members (Morgan) lends shelter to another member (Abe) who’s been left homeless for several months before leaving for college and using the time together to further fine-tune their musical alignment and now I can see why the band is called Mandala seeing as mandalas are all about mental/spiritual alignment (get those chakras balanced, baby!)…
…and those Buddhist monks who sit for hours or even days arranging colored sand into intricate geometric patterns only to sweep it all away when they’re done aren’t that different from indie musicians sitting for hours or even days arranging tone-colored sounds into intricate patterns of licks, riffs, and grooves in order to form a larger entity serving as an aid to mediation or a “psychologic expression of the self” or a means to “transform a universe of suffering into one of joy” which is roughly what “Thought We Could Bloom” is about and it’s got the perfect sound to match, a shot of sunshine pop that rocks as satisfyingly as Blind Melon’s "No Rain" which ably helps get across its message of staying afloat in a sink or swim world…
…and finally one other thing people associate with madalas is "hippies" hoping to catch a wave to the next astral plane via mystic doodles or at least to end up with some nice wall hangings and Mandala’s Morgan embodies this ‘60s/‘70s hippie chick sensibility beautifully with her biker-mama-in-training (editors note: speculative) mirror shades and whirling-dervish-with-a-tambourine stage presence like she’s the secret lovechild of Janis Joplin and Robert Plant with Steve Nicks as her godmother and Helen Reddy as her emotional support Canadian if that makes any sense…
…which would help explain her impressively agile whispy-ff-to-gritty-gravelly vocal range as well and the flower child frequencies heard in much of Mandala’s music more generally across the spectrum of peace-sign flashing groovitude to the occasional Manson/Altamont/Kent State acid flashback like in the outro of “Snake Song” which would be right at home played over the PA at a Hogs, Halter Tops, and Huffing Biker Crank convention not that the clean-cut young adults in Mandala would ever attend such an event just witness their notes on track #6 below and stay off the dope kids…
…but hey enough of my yakkin’ cuz who wouldn’t wanna hear from the band themselves about what these songs are about and how they came about and lucky for all involved Mandala were kind enough to provide some substantive annotations for each of the album’s sweet sixteen tracks so settle in for the ride while we pop Basement Flower Bouquet into the van’s eight-track and all you need to do is lose yourself in the tasty licks and groovy grooves and stirring lyrics within while learning some behind the scenes details while we drive our windowless van down by the river and nevermind the Rambo-style hunting knife or the oil drum full of hydrofluoric acid in the back they’re for my nephew’s school play. (Jason Lee)
“Cowboy Classic”, as the studio version, is a song that developed over time. Theintro was actually thought of by Morgan after being inspired by A$AP Ferg & Rocky’s “Pups” track. We wanted to set the tone for the record, ring the alarms cause mandala is coming. Opening the entire record with the line “Don’t you call me anymore” this record is personal. The entire record of “Basement Flower Bouquet” lyrically written with passion by Morgan Fasanelli, Abe Azab, Chris Desiderio.
2.) Better Now
Written by our lead singers Abe Azab and Morgan Fasanelli, Abe brought us this song just on an electric guitar. The development of the bridge and the horns section was orchestrated by our drummer, reaching out to local musicians from Connecticut to bring this record together. Keeping with our whimsical attitudes, the video for this was the first one we shot after moving out here to LA. Directed by a friend we met here, we’re trying to continue with our gorilla antics going all over the state to shoot these scenes of Morgan on a date with a mannequin in public. The song itself, written by Abe Azab and Morgan Fasanelli, is about growth – a constant theme in Abe’s focused writing, whereas Morgan writes in freestyles & jams, or as written poems translated. All mostly focusing on the past, and the future, with Better Now being their touch on the present.
3.) Cyanopsia
What started as a 9-minute synth jam, the lyrics “Here I am begging for change, Here I am calling your name. I can see in the lights, when you hide” flowed as a freestyle from lead singer Morgan Fasanelli, which is how the group writes most of their songs. The song then transitioned to what the group refers to as the start of this record, being one of the first songs they began to demo in their home studio. “I can remember the first time we played this song live, we were in Brooklyn, and I was scared. I was scared to play the song because it felt like something we weren’t supposed to share. But we did, and it was beautiful. I named it Cyanopsia, because It was at a time where I was feeling very blue. So after some research, as psych majors do, I thought okay, babies can have a yellow tint on their eyes, I had that – I wonder if you can have a tint of blue? Low and behold, Cyanopsia is a medical term for seeing everything tinted with blue. It is also referred to as blue vision.” – Morgan Fasanelli
4.) Lucid Dreams
“I could be someone that you knew back then. When I wasn’t cool, wasn’t good enough for you” – Lucid Dreams feels like our anthem song on the album. With a punchy strong chorus from Abe Azab screaming “I paid my price. Started working on my family ties. If an offer’s waiting on the table, are you working on your spite” this song is genuinely about high school. It’s about reflecting back and recognizing personal growth, as we call it a “glow up”. “And if I act elusively, it’s cause I’m slipping in a lucid dream” – basically saying, when someone starts acting up when they have a dream on their mind or feel larger than life. Everyone in the group has their own story, and we try to remind each other of where we came from.
5.) Party Girl
“If these walls could talk, they’d say the truth. Or in other words, the things they’d say to you” – Party girl is about miscommunication. The root of most problems and the root of the feeling of frustration for lead singer Morgan Fasanelli, especially in queer relationships. This song feels like a lost love, something bittersweet. When the bridge breaks down and Sean Connelly, drummer of the group, is wailing on the cymbals and Morgan is screaming “History, and bullshit, and feelings aside, these walls know my secrets and they’re on my side. I bet you didn’t know that. All of the history and all of the lines, you tell your stories I will tell mine. BUT I HOPE YOU’RE DOING REALLY GREAT RIGHT NOW” – then we kick back in on four hits. Giving the perception we’re talking to somebody directly. We released this song as a hit single for this record and it’s doing pretty well right now!
6.) I’m Not Into Dope
A very old Mandala song, originally written in 2015 – it began as a release of emotion over one of our close friends becoming heavily addicted to drugs. Many fans of ours fell in love with the song, but we’ve never worked on or released a full studio version until now! With haunting vocals, the opening lyrics sing “Last fall, you said you’re coming home from war” – as in coming back to reality from a binge.
7.) Thought We Could Bloom
“Thought that we could bloom from just the sun in your eyes, I know I’ve got a tight grip like it right by your side. Just doing what I’m told, daddy said hold on tight. Sink or swim world. Don’t drown without a fight, hello!” – another freestyle from Morgan, which started just her and her ukulele during quarantine while she was in NYC for school. Throughout that time endless voice memos and zoom writing meetings took place between her and guitarist Abe Azab, and Abe Azab and Chris Desiderio – who at the time was in LA for school. For this song, and others written via phone like “Connecticut” – written by Chris Desiderio. The outro of “Thought We Could Bloom” was also a part cultivated on Morgan’s ukulele that bassist Matt Rosano and guitarist Abe Azab made their own, in a luigi’s mansion kind of way that we loved.
8.) Connecticut
What’s interesting about “Connecticut” is that it was written by Chris in LA, it’s almost like a breakup song with the entire state, or a girl, but it became our breakup song with the state as we were moving away. We love CT, and we miss it every day we’re out here, but we just wanted to travel our sounds to the west and try to expand our fanbase for a couple years….wink wink! We thought it was a good single to release as our first song back after our move to LA, an ode to our home. The music video, we actually got to shoot in CT while we were home recording, after living in LA. The cover, we shot in LA! Love to trick people.
9.) Never Forget
“Never Forget” is a song that came about right in the basement during our recording process. When Chris came home for a session, we all had a bit of a frame for the song and everything came together in like 20 minutes between melody, instrumentals, and lyrics. Our bassist at the time, Matt Rosano, had some very sick ideas for D&B between him and Sean that really helped us find the flow. Singing of having no money, constantly drinking, and eating poorly – Morgan takes inspiring words like “Should I fly by or try to, get better without a clear view” to uplift listeners. Rounding the song off with group vocals singing “I don’t know if it’s getting any better, but i know that I might be okay”.
10.) On & On
A song Morgan started in 2018 as a ukulele demo while living in New York, it was presented to the group during quarantine as just a little diddy and grew into an explosion of emotion. The track on the record you will hear Morgan playing her baritone ukulele to start it off, and the instrumentals – drum and acoustic were actually taken as a live take. We felt it had more energy and we could quite get the timing right doing it like studio robots, so we tracked it live and it came out awesome. Reminiscent of grief and longing, this song holds very close to Morgan’s heart.
11.) Starships (It’s Going Down)
The one-two kicker of the record, with a super fun turnover. This song is very surf-rocky in our opinion. The four or five of us, really whoever is around, would all meet up in the basement in New Britain, CT – aka our “home studio”, and we would just play and play and play. The vision for this song was literally – lighter hitting the fuse, rocket ship taking off, us feeling like we don’t know what to do, crash landing on an alien planet and then needing help. We took those feelings and tried to let them guide us, but all of that kind of happens at once while we’re jamming. We’ll turn and be like “feels like this..” and then go onto a story. Chris, directed our music video for this song, and was able to shape those feelings into a visual for us!
12.) Ruby Red
One of the most organic songs on the record, this came about within 20 minutes of riffing on the guitar. Morgan, Abe, and Sean spent all of 2020 as neighbors – able to jam whenever necessary and this one just came about one day. Not usually focusing on the happiness of everything, Ruby Red is a new sexy side of Mandala. Morgan wears a red ring, from her partner – and wrote this song with her in mind, the gag is….her ring is a garnet! Guitarist Abe Azab directed and shot this video, with the rest of the group Morgan, Sean and Chris – producing and doing stagecraft and costumes. Ruby Red Official Music Video
13.) Wishing & Waiting
One of our favorite’s off this record, this song was written at 4am by Abe and Morgan one late night while she was in town for a string of shows. The cultivation process of a song is very important for us. We aren’t a band sitting down going let’s write a song for this, or trying to sound like this. We just play what comes out and usually go from there tweaking it. Normally starting as freestyles, or riffs Morgan and Abe get together and they have the magic touch. Our touring guitarist Michael Baz executed the solo for that song while we were writing as a full group, and we were like “this has to be on the record. It makes us feel something”. Another song inspired by queer love this song touches on just how close the queer community is, and the worldy joke that everyone tries to stay friend’s with their exes.
14.) With or Without You
One day after a show in CT in 2017, Chris and Morgan went back to his place to jam instead of hang out and party, typical post show moves. They sat by the fire with his dog, trying to write some songs and started this beautiful melody. Dedicated & Inspired by Chris’ father Jeff, who had passed shortly before we started writing, this song is about getting by. A bit of a hollow feeling to it. In the studio we were able to get the drums so shimmery on the chorus’ – it’s one of our favorite sounds on the record.
15.) Snake Song
A song that started off as a freestyle demo between Morgan and Abe soon turned into a sneaky little rock song. One of the more intricate drum tracks Sean did. “We were just trying to catch a vibe writing this song, once that first mysterious riff played, we thought this is like a slithering snake” – Sean Connelley says. The entire song is like a slithering snake, and then it explodes into the chorus, but sneaks back down again – and explodes into a guitar solo inspired by the late Eddie Van Halen.
16.) Piece of My Love
The closer on the album, it just felt right. We spent over 400 hours having fun at Pharaoh Studios, and we were able to add all of us clapping and cheering for ourselves after finishing this record, which you can hear at the end of “Piece of My Love”. This song is the sweeter side of Mandala, with harmonious vocals from Abe and Morgan, we were able to just flow on this song.
If you wanna skip straight to Mandala’s song-by-song liners notes (and who could blame you, they’re excellent!) then simply scroll down to after the jump…
In his magnum opus The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet’s Mind; An Autobiographical Poem, no less an authority than OG emo poet William Wordsworth (straight outta Cockermouth!) proclaimed poetry to be the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotion recollected in tranquillity but the rock combo known as Mandala (straight outta Waterbury!) take a slightly different tact on their third LP Basement Flower Bouquet with its spontaneous overflow of powerful emotion recollected intasty licks and tasty grooves whether tranquil or tempestuous…
…and it’s those licks and grooves that really do the trick—plus some of whatever was in those red cup “blooms” on the cover if any’s left over—since not too many people read 300-plus-page autobiographical poems in blank verse these days with most being more inclined to find emotional release in a near hour’s worth of sleek-yet-grungy, aching-yet-uplifting pop-rock songs that draw upon a musical menagerie of influences…
….including (warning: highly speculative!) Byrd-y folk rock, jam band jammage (minus the noodling!) and Southern rock boogie crossed with psych and prog, jazz and R&B, garage and indie with a dash of doo-wop/girl-group pop for good measure especially on “Lucid Dreams” which compares favorably with the Ronettes in the “woo-woo-woo” backing vocal department…
…and here’s a pull quote if you need one: “Mandala are the rare rockers today who are able to move between extremes of smoothitude and shreditude with ease and assurance” and just check out “Better Now” if you don’t believe me opening with a slow tom-tom beat (Sean Connelly) and a loping bassline (Matt Rosano) that for a couple seconds sounds like a lost outtake from Sly Stone’s dystopic blunted-out-soul classic There’s A Riot Goin’ On but then the mood shifts with the arrival of shimmering, suspended guitar chords and playful vocal interplay between co-vocalists Morgan Fasanelli and Abe Azab…
…who banter back-and-forth in a state-of-the-relationship scenario something like an indie rock “I Got You Babe” except more like “I Lost You Babe” ammirite and compared with Sonny & Cher’s tuneless bleating (just joshing, we love y’all!) the vocals on “Better Now” are by turns supple, nuanced and powerful perfectly mirroring the song’s musical progression which starts off smoooooth as Smoove B hitting on Christine McVie back at an office Christmas party which you’ve probably guessed is an imaginary scenario…
…up until the head-bobbing, foot-stomping, super-hooky chorus that is culminating in some tasty-lick-heavy-shredding by either Abe Azab or Chris Desiderio (sorry, not sure which, but check out the end of “Snake Song” for even more intense shredding) and a brass counterpoint all of which no doubt took some serious work to arrange while still retaining the emotional spark that gave the song its impetus in the first place which is exactly what Wordsworth was getting at I think…
…a balancing act that for bands requires an almost extrasensory level of shared intuition between musicians to pull off which Mandala pulls off with aplomb on Basement Flower Bouquet no doubt in part thanks to their having “spent over 365 days jamming in the basement” where Mandala rehearse and hang out “organically creating the music” before collectively moving to LA to record this according to Morgan with Sean chiming in that the experience was “life changing for the better…who knows where we’d be without it” and if a band can actually spend that much time together without it turning into Season One of Yellowjackets then it’s a band I haven’t been in yet but would like to be…
…but then I’ve never been in a band where one of its members (Morgan) lends shelter to another member (Abe) who’s been left homeless for several months before leaving for college and using the time together to further fine-tune their musical alignment and now I can see why the band is called Mandala seeing as mandalas are all about mental/spiritual alignment (get those chakras balanced, baby!)…
…and those Buddhist monks who sit for hours or even days arranging colored sand into intricate geometric patterns only to sweep it all away when they’re done aren’t that different from indie musicians sitting for hours or even days arranging tone-colored sounds into intricate patterns of licks, riffs, and grooves in order to form a larger entity serving as an aid to mediation or a “psychologic expression of the self” or a means to “transform a universe of suffering into one of joy” which is roughly what “Thought We Could Bloom” is about and it’s got the perfect sound to match, a shot of sunshine pop that rocks as satisfyingly as Blind Melon’s "No Rain" which ably helps get across its message of staying afloat in a sink or swim world…
…and finally one other thing people associate with madalas is "hippies" hoping to catch a wave to the next astral plane via mystic doodles or at least to end up with some nice wall hangings and Mandala’s Morgan embodies this ‘60s/‘70s hippie chick sensibility beautifully with her biker-mama-in-training (editors note: speculative) mirror shades and whirling-dervish-with-a-tambourine stage presence like she’s the secret lovechild of Janis Joplin and Robert Plant with Steve Nicks as her godmother and Helen Reddy as her emotional support Canadian if that makes any sense…
…which would help explain her impressively agile whispy-ff-to-gritty-gravelly vocal range as well and the flower child frequencies heard in much of Mandala’s music more generally across the spectrum of peace-sign flashing groovitude to the occasional Manson/Altamont/Kent State acid flashback like in the outro of “Snake Song” which would be right at home played over the PA at a Hogs, Halter Tops, and Huffing Biker Crank convention not that the clean-cut young adults in Mandala would ever attend such an event just witness their notes on track #6 below and stay off the dope kids…
…but hey enough of my yakkin’ cuz who wouldn’t wanna hear from the band themselves about what these songs are about and how they came about and lucky for all involved Mandala were kind enough to provide some substantive annotations for each of the album’s sweet sixteen tracks so settle in for the ride while we pop Basement Flower Bouquet into the van’s eight-track and all you need to do is lose yourself in the tasty licks and groovy grooves and stirring lyrics within while learning some behind the scenes details while we drive our windowless van down by the river and nevermind the Rambo-style hunting knife or the oil drum full of hydrofluoric acid in the back they’re for my nephew’s school play. (Jason Lee)
“Cowboy Classic”, as the studio version, is a song that developed over time. Theintro was actually thought of by Morgan after being inspired by A$AP Ferg & Rocky’s “Pups” track. We wanted to set the tone for the record, ring the alarms cause mandala is coming. Opening the entire record with the line “Don’t you call me anymore” this record is personal. The entire record of “Basement Flower Bouquet” lyrically written with passion by Morgan Fasanelli, Abe Azab, Chris Desiderio.
2.) Better Now
Written by our lead singers Abe Azab and Morgan Fasanelli, Abe brought us this song just on an electric guitar. The development of the bridge and the horns section was orchestrated by our drummer, reaching out to local musicians from Connecticut to bring this record together. Keeping with our whimsical attitudes, the video for this was the first one we shot after moving out here to LA. Directed by a friend we met here, we’re trying to continue with our gorilla antics going all over the state to shoot these scenes of Morgan on a date with a mannequin in public. The song itself, written by Abe Azab and Morgan Fasanelli, is about growth – a constant theme in Abe’s focused writing, whereas Morgan writes in freestyles & jams, or as written poems translated. All mostly focusing on the past, and the future, with Better Now being their touch on the present.
3.) Cyanopsia
What started as a 9-minute synth jam, the lyrics “Here I am begging for change, Here I am calling your name. I can see in the lights, when you hide” flowed as a freestyle from lead singer Morgan Fasanelli, which is how the group writes most of their songs. The song then transitioned to what the group refers to as the start of this record, being one of the first songs they began to demo in their home studio. “I can remember the first time we played this song live, we were in Brooklyn, and I was scared. I was scared to play the song because it felt like something we weren’t supposed to share. But we did, and it was beautiful. I named it Cyanopsia, because It was at a time where I was feeling very blue. So after some research, as psych majors do, I thought okay, babies can have a yellow tint on their eyes, I had that – I wonder if you can have a tint of blue? Low and behold, Cyanopsia is a medical term for seeing everything tinted with blue. It is also referred to as blue vision.” – Morgan Fasanelli
4.) Lucid Dreams
“I could be someone that you knew back then. When I wasn’t cool, wasn’t good enough for you” – Lucid Dreams feels like our anthem song on the album. With a punchy strong chorus from Abe Azab screaming “I paid my price. Started working on my family ties. If an offer’s waiting on the table, are you working on your spite” this song is genuinely about high school. It’s about reflecting back and recognizing personal growth, as we call it a “glow up”. “And if I act elusively, it’s cause I’m slipping in a lucid dream” – basically saying, when someone starts acting up when they have a dream on their mind or feel larger than life. Everyone in the group has their own story, and we try to remind each other of where we came from.
5.) Party Girl
“If these walls could talk, they’d say the truth. Or in other words, the things they’d say to you” – Party girl is about miscommunication. The root of most problems and the root of the feeling of frustration for lead singer Morgan Fasanelli, especially in queer relationships. This song feels like a lost love, something bittersweet. When the bridge breaks down and Sean Connelly, drummer of the group, is wailing on the cymbals and Morgan is screaming “History, and bullshit, and feelings aside, these walls know my secrets and they’re on my side. I bet you didn’t know that. All of the history and all of the lines, you tell your stories I will tell mine. BUT I HOPE YOU’RE DOING REALLY GREAT RIGHT NOW” – then we kick back in on four hits. Giving the perception we’re talking to somebody directly. We released this song as a hit single for this record and it’s doing pretty well right now!
6.) I’m Not Into Dope
A very old Mandala song, originally written in 2015 – it began as a release of emotion over one of our close friends becoming heavily addicted to drugs. Many fans of ours fell in love with the song, but we’ve never worked on or released a full studio version until now! With haunting vocals, the opening lyrics sing “Last fall, you said you’re coming home from war” – as in coming back to reality from a binge.
7.) Thought We Could Bloom
“Thought that we could bloom from just the sun in your eyes, I know I’ve got a tight grip like it right by your side. Just doing what I’m told, daddy said hold on tight. Sink or swim world. Don’t drown without a fight, hello!” – another freestyle from Morgan, which started just her and her ukulele during quarantine while she was in NYC for school. Throughout that time endless voice memos and zoom writing meetings took place between her and guitarist Abe Azab, and Abe Azab and Chris Desiderio – who at the time was in LA for school. For this song, and others written via phone like “Connecticut” – written by Chris Desiderio. The outro of “Thought We Could Bloom” was also a part cultivated on Morgan’s ukulele that bassist Matt Rosano and guitarist Abe Azab made their own, in a luigi’s mansion kind of way that we loved.
8.) Connecticut
What’s interesting about “Connecticut” is that it was written by Chris in LA, it’s almost like a breakup song with the entire state, or a girl, but it became our breakup song with the state as we were moving away. We love CT, and we miss it every day we’re out here, but we just wanted to travel our sounds to the west and try to expand our fanbase for a couple years….wink wink! We thought it was a good single to release as our first song back after our move to LA, an ode to our home. The music video, we actually got to shoot in CT while we were home recording, after living in LA. The cover, we shot in LA! Love to trick people.
9.) Never Forget
“Never Forget” is a song that came about right in the basement during our recording process. When Chris came home for a session, we all had a bit of a frame for the song and everything came together in like 20 minutes between melody, instrumentals, and lyrics. Our bassist at the time, Matt Rosano, had some very sick ideas for D&B between him and Sean that really helped us find the flow. Singing of having no money, constantly drinking, and eating poorly – Morgan takes inspiring words like “Should I fly by or try to, get better without a clear view” to uplift listeners. Rounding the song off with group vocals singing “I don’t know if it’s getting any better, but i know that I might be okay”.
10.) On & On
A song Morgan started in 2018 as a ukulele demo while living in New York, it was presented to the group during quarantine as just a little diddy and grew into an explosion of emotion. The track on the record you will hear Morgan playing her baritone ukulele to start it off, and the instrumentals – drum and acoustic were actually taken as a live take. We felt it had more energy and we could quite get the timing right doing it like studio robots, so we tracked it live and it came out awesome. Reminiscent of grief and longing, this song holds very close to Morgan’s heart.
11.) Starships (It’s Going Down)
The one-two kicker of the record, with a super fun turnover. This song is very surf-rocky in our opinion. The four or five of us, really whoever is around, would all meet up in the basement in New Britain, CT – aka our “home studio”, and we would just play and play and play. The vision for this song was literally – lighter hitting the fuse, rocket ship taking off, us feeling like we don’t know what to do, crash landing on an alien planet and then needing help. We took those feelings and tried to let them guide us, but all of that kind of happens at once while we’re jamming. We’ll turn and be like “feels like this..” and then go onto a story. Chris, directed our music video for this song, and was able to shape those feelings into a visual for us!
12.) Ruby Red
One of the most organic songs on the record, this came about within 20 minutes of riffing on the guitar. Morgan, Abe, and Sean spent all of 2020 as neighbors – able to jam whenever necessary and this one just came about one day. Not usually focusing on the happiness of everything, Ruby Red is a new sexy side of Mandala. Morgan wears a red ring, from her partner – and wrote this song with her in mind, the gag is….her ring is a garnet! Guitarist Abe Azab directed and shot this video, with the rest of the group Morgan, Sean and Chris – producing and doing stagecraft and costumes. Ruby Red Official Music Video
13.) Wishing & Waiting
One of our favorite’s off this record, this song was written at 4am by Abe and Morgan one late night while she was in town for a string of shows. The cultivation process of a song is very important for us. We aren’t a band sitting down going let’s write a song for this, or trying to sound like this. We just play what comes out and usually go from there tweaking it. Normally starting as freestyles, or riffs Morgan and Abe get together and they have the magic touch. Our touring guitarist Michael Baz executed the solo for that song while we were writing as a full group, and we were like “this has to be on the record. It makes us feel something”. Another song inspired by queer love this song touches on just how close the queer community is, and the worldy joke that everyone tries to stay friend’s with their exes.
14.) With or Without You
One day after a show in CT in 2017, Chris and Morgan went back to his place to jam instead of hang out and party, typical post show moves. They sat by the fire with his dog, trying to write some songs and started this beautiful melody. Dedicated & Inspired by Chris’ father Jeff, who had passed shortly before we started writing, this song is about getting by. A bit of a hollow feeling to it. In the studio we were able to get the drums so shimmery on the chorus’ – it’s one of our favorite sounds on the record.
15.) Snake Song
A song that started off as a freestyle demo between Morgan and Abe soon turned into a sneaky little rock song. One of the more intricate drum tracks Sean did. “We were just trying to catch a vibe writing this song, once that first mysterious riff played, we thought this is like a slithering snake” – Sean Connelley says. The entire song is like a slithering snake, and then it explodes into the chorus, but sneaks back down again – and explodes into a guitar solo inspired by the late Eddie Van Halen.
16.) Piece of My Love
The closer on the album, it just felt right. We spent over 400 hours having fun at Pharaoh Studios, and we were able to add all of us clapping and cheering for ourselves after finishing this record, which you can hear at the end of “Piece of My Love”. This song is the sweeter side of Mandala, with harmonious vocals from Abe and Morgan, we were able to just flow on this song.
If you wanna skip straight to Mandala’s song-by-song liners notes (and who could blame you, they’re excellent!) then simply scroll down to after the jump…
In his magnum opus The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet’s Mind; An Autobiographical Poem, no less an authority than OG emo poet William Wordsworth (straight outta Cockermouth!) proclaimed poetry to be the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotion recollected in tranquillity but the rock combo known as Mandala (straight outta Waterbury!) take a slightly different tact on their third LP Basement Flower Bouquet with its spontaneous overflow of powerful emotion recollected intasty licks and tasty grooves whether tranquil or tempestuous…
…and it’s those licks and grooves that really do the trick—plus some of whatever was in those red cup “blooms” on the cover if any’s left over—since not too many people read 300-plus-page autobiographical poems in blank verse these days with most being more inclined to find emotional release in a near hour’s worth of sleek-yet-grungy, aching-yet-uplifting pop-rock songs that draw upon a musical menagerie of influences…
….including (warning: highly speculative!) Byrd-y folk rock, jam band jammage (minus the noodling!) and Southern rock boogie crossed with psych and prog, jazz and R&B, garage and indie with a dash of doo-wop/girl-group pop for good measure especially on “Lucid Dreams” which compares favorably with the Ronettes in the “woo-woo-woo” backing vocal department…
…and here’s a pull quote if you need one: “Mandala are the rare rockers today who are able to move between extremes of smoothitude and shreditude with ease and assurance” and just check out “Better Now” if you don’t believe me opening with a slow tom-tom beat (Sean Connelly) and a loping bassline (Matt Rosano) that for a couple seconds sounds like a lost outtake from Sly Stone’s dystopic blunted-out-soul classic There’s A Riot Goin’ On but then the mood shifts with the arrival of shimmering, suspended guitar chords and playful vocal interplay between co-vocalists Morgan Fasanelli and Abe Azab…
…who banter back-and-forth in a state-of-the-relationship scenario something like an indie rock “I Got You Babe” except more like “I Lost You Babe” ammirite and compared with Sonny & Cher’s tuneless bleating (just joshing, we love y’all!) the vocals on “Better Now” are by turns supple, nuanced and powerful perfectly mirroring the song’s musical progression which starts off smoooooth as Smoove B hitting on Christine McVie back at an office Christmas party which you’ve probably guessed is an imaginary scenario…
…up until the head-bobbing, foot-stomping, super-hooky chorus that is culminating in some tasty-lick-heavy-shredding by either Abe Azab or Chris Desiderio (sorry, not sure which, but check out the end of “Snake Song” for even more intense shredding) and a brass counterpoint all of which no doubt took some serious work to arrange while still retaining the emotional spark that gave the song its impetus in the first place which is exactly what Wordsworth was getting at I think…
…a balancing act that for bands requires an almost extrasensory level of shared intuition between musicians to pull off which Mandala pulls off with aplomb on Basement Flower Bouquet no doubt in part thanks to their having “spent over 365 days jamming in the basement” where Mandala rehearse and hang out “organically creating the music” before collectively moving to LA to record this according to Morgan with Sean chiming in that the experience was “life changing for the better…who knows where we’d be without it” and if a band can actually spend that much time together without it turning into Season One of Yellowjackets then it’s a band I haven’t been in yet but would like to be…
…but then I’ve never been in a band where one of its members (Morgan) lends shelter to another member (Abe) who’s been left homeless for several months before leaving for college and using the time together to further fine-tune their musical alignment and now I can see why the band is called Mandala seeing as mandalas are all about mental/spiritual alignment (get those chakras balanced, baby!)…
…and those Buddhist monks who sit for hours or even days arranging colored sand into intricate geometric patterns only to sweep it all away when they’re done aren’t that different from indie musicians sitting for hours or even days arranging tone-colored sounds into intricate patterns of licks, riffs, and grooves in order to form a larger entity serving as an aid to mediation or a “psychologic expression of the self” or a means to “transform a universe of suffering into one of joy” which is roughly what “Thought We Could Bloom” is about and it’s got the perfect sound to match, a shot of sunshine pop that rocks as satisfyingly as Blind Melon’s "No Rain" which ably helps get across its message of staying afloat in a sink or swim world…
…and finally one other thing people associate with madalas is "hippies" hoping to catch a wave to the next astral plane via mystic doodles or at least to end up with some nice wall hangings and Mandala’s Morgan embodies this ‘60s/‘70s hippie chick sensibility beautifully with her biker-mama-in-training (editors note: speculative) mirror shades and whirling-dervish-with-a-tambourine stage presence like she’s the secret lovechild of Janis Joplin and Robert Plant with Steve Nicks as her godmother and Helen Reddy as her emotional support Canadian if that makes any sense…
…which would help explain her impressively agile whispy-ff-to-gritty-gravelly vocal range as well and the flower child frequencies heard in much of Mandala’s music more generally across the spectrum of peace-sign flashing groovitude to the occasional Manson/Altamont/Kent State acid flashback like in the outro of “Snake Song” which would be right at home played over the PA at a Hogs, Halter Tops, and Huffing Biker Crank convention not that the clean-cut young adults in Mandala would ever attend such an event just witness their notes on track #6 below and stay off the dope kids…
…but hey enough of my yakkin’ cuz who wouldn’t wanna hear from the band themselves about what these songs are about and how they came about and lucky for all involved Mandala were kind enough to provide some substantive annotations for each of the album’s sweet sixteen tracks so settle in for the ride while we pop Basement Flower Bouquet into the van’s eight-track and all you need to do is lose yourself in the tasty licks and groovy grooves and stirring lyrics within while learning some behind the scenes details while we drive our windowless van down by the river and nevermind the Rambo-style hunting knife or the oil drum full of hydrofluoric acid in the back they’re for my nephew’s school play. (Jason Lee)
“Cowboy Classic”, as the studio version, is a song that developed over time. Theintro was actually thought of by Morgan after being inspired by A$AP Ferg & Rocky’s “Pups” track. We wanted to set the tone for the record, ring the alarms cause mandala is coming. Opening the entire record with the line “Don’t you call me anymore” this record is personal. The entire record of “Basement Flower Bouquet” lyrically written with passion by Morgan Fasanelli, Abe Azab, Chris Desiderio.
2.) Better Now
Written by our lead singers Abe Azab and Morgan Fasanelli, Abe brought us this song just on an electric guitar. The development of the bridge and the horns section was orchestrated by our drummer, reaching out to local musicians from Connecticut to bring this record together. Keeping with our whimsical attitudes, the video for this was the first one we shot after moving out here to LA. Directed by a friend we met here, we’re trying to continue with our gorilla antics going all over the state to shoot these scenes of Morgan on a date with a mannequin in public. The song itself, written by Abe Azab and Morgan Fasanelli, is about growth – a constant theme in Abe’s focused writing, whereas Morgan writes in freestyles & jams, or as written poems translated. All mostly focusing on the past, and the future, with Better Now being their touch on the present.
3.) Cyanopsia
What started as a 9-minute synth jam, the lyrics “Here I am begging for change, Here I am calling your name. I can see in the lights, when you hide” flowed as a freestyle from lead singer Morgan Fasanelli, which is how the group writes most of their songs. The song then transitioned to what the group refers to as the start of this record, being one of the first songs they began to demo in their home studio. “I can remember the first time we played this song live, we were in Brooklyn, and I was scared. I was scared to play the song because it felt like something we weren’t supposed to share. But we did, and it was beautiful. I named it Cyanopsia, because It was at a time where I was feeling very blue. So after some research, as psych majors do, I thought okay, babies can have a yellow tint on their eyes, I had that – I wonder if you can have a tint of blue? Low and behold, Cyanopsia is a medical term for seeing everything tinted with blue. It is also referred to as blue vision.” – Morgan Fasanelli
4.) Lucid Dreams
“I could be someone that you knew back then. When I wasn’t cool, wasn’t good enough for you” – Lucid Dreams feels like our anthem song on the album. With a punchy strong chorus from Abe Azab screaming “I paid my price. Started working on my family ties. If an offer’s waiting on the table, are you working on your spite” this song is genuinely about high school. It’s about reflecting back and recognizing personal growth, as we call it a “glow up”. “And if I act elusively, it’s cause I’m slipping in a lucid dream” – basically saying, when someone starts acting up when they have a dream on their mind or feel larger than life. Everyone in the group has their own story, and we try to remind each other of where we came from.
5.) Party Girl
“If these walls could talk, they’d say the truth. Or in other words, the things they’d say to you” – Party girl is about miscommunication. The root of most problems and the root of the feeling of frustration for lead singer Morgan Fasanelli, especially in queer relationships. This song feels like a lost love, something bittersweet. When the bridge breaks down and Sean Connelly, drummer of the group, is wailing on the cymbals and Morgan is screaming “History, and bullshit, and feelings aside, these walls know my secrets and they’re on my side. I bet you didn’t know that. All of the history and all of the lines, you tell your stories I will tell mine. BUT I HOPE YOU’RE DOING REALLY GREAT RIGHT NOW” – then we kick back in on four hits. Giving the perception we’re talking to somebody directly. We released this song as a hit single for this record and it’s doing pretty well right now!
6.) I’m Not Into Dope
A very old Mandala song, originally written in 2015 – it began as a release of emotion over one of our close friends becoming heavily addicted to drugs. Many fans of ours fell in love with the song, but we’ve never worked on or released a full studio version until now! With haunting vocals, the opening lyrics sing “Last fall, you said you’re coming home from war” – as in coming back to reality from a binge.
7.) Thought We Could Bloom
“Thought that we could bloom from just the sun in your eyes, I know I’ve got a tight grip like it right by your side. Just doing what I’m told, daddy said hold on tight. Sink or swim world. Don’t drown without a fight, hello!” – another freestyle from Morgan, which started just her and her ukulele during quarantine while she was in NYC for school. Throughout that time endless voice memos and zoom writing meetings took place between her and guitarist Abe Azab, and Abe Azab and Chris Desiderio – who at the time was in LA for school. For this song, and others written via phone like “Connecticut” – written by Chris Desiderio. The outro of “Thought We Could Bloom” was also a part cultivated on Morgan’s ukulele that bassist Matt Rosano and guitarist Abe Azab made their own, in a luigi’s mansion kind of way that we loved.
8.) Connecticut
What’s interesting about “Connecticut” is that it was written by Chris in LA, it’s almost like a breakup song with the entire state, or a girl, but it became our breakup song with the state as we were moving away. We love CT, and we miss it every day we’re out here, but we just wanted to travel our sounds to the west and try to expand our fanbase for a couple years….wink wink! We thought it was a good single to release as our first song back after our move to LA, an ode to our home. The music video, we actually got to shoot in CT while we were home recording, after living in LA. The cover, we shot in LA! Love to trick people.
9.) Never Forget
“Never Forget” is a song that came about right in the basement during our recording process. When Chris came home for a session, we all had a bit of a frame for the song and everything came together in like 20 minutes between melody, instrumentals, and lyrics. Our bassist at the time, Matt Rosano, had some very sick ideas for D&B between him and Sean that really helped us find the flow. Singing of having no money, constantly drinking, and eating poorly – Morgan takes inspiring words like “Should I fly by or try to, get better without a clear view” to uplift listeners. Rounding the song off with group vocals singing “I don’t know if it’s getting any better, but i know that I might be okay”.
10.) On & On
A song Morgan started in 2018 as a ukulele demo while living in New York, it was presented to the group during quarantine as just a little diddy and grew into an explosion of emotion. The track on the record you will hear Morgan playing her baritone ukulele to start it off, and the instrumentals – drum and acoustic were actually taken as a live take. We felt it had more energy and we could quite get the timing right doing it like studio robots, so we tracked it live and it came out awesome. Reminiscent of grief and longing, this song holds very close to Morgan’s heart.
11.) Starships (It’s Going Down)
The one-two kicker of the record, with a super fun turnover. This song is very surf-rocky in our opinion. The four or five of us, really whoever is around, would all meet up in the basement in New Britain, CT – aka our “home studio”, and we would just play and play and play. The vision for this song was literally – lighter hitting the fuse, rocket ship taking off, us feeling like we don’t know what to do, crash landing on an alien planet and then needing help. We took those feelings and tried to let them guide us, but all of that kind of happens at once while we’re jamming. We’ll turn and be like “feels like this..” and then go onto a story. Chris, directed our music video for this song, and was able to shape those feelings into a visual for us!
12.) Ruby Red
One of the most organic songs on the record, this came about within 20 minutes of riffing on the guitar. Morgan, Abe, and Sean spent all of 2020 as neighbors – able to jam whenever necessary and this one just came about one day. Not usually focusing on the happiness of everything, Ruby Red is a new sexy side of Mandala. Morgan wears a red ring, from her partner – and wrote this song with her in mind, the gag is….her ring is a garnet! Guitarist Abe Azab directed and shot this video, with the rest of the group Morgan, Sean and Chris – producing and doing stagecraft and costumes. Ruby Red Official Music Video
13.) Wishing & Waiting
One of our favorite’s off this record, this song was written at 4am by Abe and Morgan one late night while she was in town for a string of shows. The cultivation process of a song is very important for us. We aren’t a band sitting down going let’s write a song for this, or trying to sound like this. We just play what comes out and usually go from there tweaking it. Normally starting as freestyles, or riffs Morgan and Abe get together and they have the magic touch. Our touring guitarist Michael Baz executed the solo for that song while we were writing as a full group, and we were like “this has to be on the record. It makes us feel something”. Another song inspired by queer love this song touches on just how close the queer community is, and the worldy joke that everyone tries to stay friend’s with their exes.
14.) With or Without You
One day after a show in CT in 2017, Chris and Morgan went back to his place to jam instead of hang out and party, typical post show moves. They sat by the fire with his dog, trying to write some songs and started this beautiful melody. Dedicated & Inspired by Chris’ father Jeff, who had passed shortly before we started writing, this song is about getting by. A bit of a hollow feeling to it. In the studio we were able to get the drums so shimmery on the chorus’ – it’s one of our favorite sounds on the record.
15.) Snake Song
A song that started off as a freestyle demo between Morgan and Abe soon turned into a sneaky little rock song. One of the more intricate drum tracks Sean did. “We were just trying to catch a vibe writing this song, once that first mysterious riff played, we thought this is like a slithering snake” – Sean Connelley says. The entire song is like a slithering snake, and then it explodes into the chorus, but sneaks back down again – and explodes into a guitar solo inspired by the late Eddie Van Halen.
16.) Piece of My Love
The closer on the album, it just felt right. We spent over 400 hours having fun at Pharaoh Studios, and we were able to add all of us clapping and cheering for ourselves after finishing this record, which you can hear at the end of “Piece of My Love”. This song is the sweeter side of Mandala, with harmonious vocals from Abe and Morgan, we were able to just flow on this song.
