Thursday, March 3, 2022

Brooklyn Vegan cites “lush, sophisticated art pop” of Later Fortune; Philly’s NPR-affiliate notes new single is “an eerily calm track” with “airy, effortless vocals.”

 Video for “stirring” song “Lateral To The Devil” by duo of Chet Delcampo, Heyward Howkins (collaborators w/ members of The War On Drugs) streaming now.
 
+++


Later Fortune (L-R): Heyward Howkins and Chet Delcampo. Photo credit: Mark Schreiber

+++

PLAY, POST, & SHARE

Later FortuneLateral The The Devil



[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSkLDh-E7yI
 
[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/LaterFortune-LateralToTheDevil
 
+++
 
“In the spirit of another music duo from Philly named Hall & Oates, Later Fortune are expertly adept at keeping the soul of their sacred city alive in their distinctive sound,” says Rock and Roll Globe in its premiere coverage of the video for the duo’s “Lateral To The Devil,” directed by Julie Casper Roth (best-known for her work with Low.)
 
Philadelphia’s NPR-affiliate WXPN says “Lateral To The Devil,” the new single by the duo comprised of Chet Delcampo and Heyward Howkins is “stirring,” and “an eerily calm track with ambient electronic layers over warm acoustic guitar, and airy, effortless vocals reminiscent of Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen.”
 
“My usual songwriting process is coming up with a mostly realized song on guitar,” says Howkins. “Later Fortune has been a complete departure from that.”
 
Listen to “Lateral To The Devil” now via WXPN’s local music hub The Key or at the link above.
 
+++
 
PLAY, POST, & SHARE

Later Fortune | Win” (David Bowie Cover)

  

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9ByhRJB32Y
 
[STREAM]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/later-fortune-win-david-bowie
 
+++
 
“A truly stirring rendition that would make Bowie smile.” — Glide Magazine
 
“Ever since the Beatles, b-sides have carried a certain mystique. For the back half of their upcoming single, “Lateral To The Devil” (due February 11), Later Fortune chose to cover David Bowie’s “Win,” an underappreciated soul-noir classic from 1975’s Young Americans. It’s the first release from the Philly duo — Chet Delcampo and Heyward Howkins — in three years. And the b-side is certainly no throwaway.” — Hobart Rowland, MAGNET Magazine
 
“The video accompaniment to ‘Win’ is meant to be a dark, lo-fi counterpoint to the polished beauty of Later Fortune’s interpretation of the Bowie tune,” explains director, Robert A. Emmons Jr. “Shot completely using two VHS cameras, the video’s protagonist, isolated and pining for a ‘win’ of their own, creates a type of lyric video ‘ransom note’ using the types of ephemera found decaying in cardboard boxes across the country — old magazines and VHS tapes — in the hopes that someone out there gets the message… and maybe reaches back.”
 
Watch “Win” now via MAGNET Magazine or at the link above.
 
+++
 
Later Fortune – In The Press
 
 
“Lush, sophisticated art pop.” — Brooklyn Vegan
 
“Wistful, melancholy, and obsessively manicured... crushed-velvet reverie.” — Philadelphia Weekly
 
 “Intriguing indie-folk... sung with a keening voice that grows on you.” — Philadelphia Inquirer
 
“Lovely and moody.” — Philadelphia Daily News
 
+++
 
Later Fortune
“Lateral To The Devil” b/w “Win” (David Bowie Cover)
Out Now
 
Streaming Link:
STREAM SINGLE
  
 
Track Listing:
 
Side A. Lateral To The Devil  (STREAM | VIDEO)
Side B: Win (David Bowie Cover) (STREAM | VIDEO)
 
+++
 
Later Fortune | About
 
Their names alone spark curiosity: Later Fortune is the Philly-based duo of Chet Delcampo and Heyward Howkins.
 
Both are busy musicians and songwriters working at the front, back, and on stage, as well as appearing on each other’s recordings. This makes their upcoming two-song “Lateral To The Devil” single (out Feb. 11th, 2022) a rare thing. The previous Later Fortune release dropped three years ago, but patience pays.
 
Even at a mere two tracks and even with one being a cover (David Bowie’s Young Americans album cut “Win,” which Bowie biographer David Buckley called “one of the most gorgeous melodies Bowie has ever written”), it’s enough to underscore the taste and talent that results from decades of adulting in music.
 
Delcampo has two earlier album releases to his name, as well as another pair as Hong Kong Stingray, and in real life, he’s called Chris Madl. His list of current and former collaborators is long, including Kid Congo Powers, Joel RL Phelps, Dave Lovering of The Pixies, and Karl Blau (who contributes the cover art for this release). Maybe Delcampo’s affinity for an alias is an extra wrinkle to the choice of a Bowie deep cut.
 
“I remember hearing ‘Win’ as a kid, lying on the bedroom floor with headphones, Christmas lights flickering,” Delcampo says. “It’s just one of those implanted youth-related feelings that invoke a warm recall, and when we were considering doing a cover, I thought we could do something interesting. Hopefully it’s a fresh take.”
 
“I think my tween Depeche Mode influences crept in,” says Howkins, who has released two full-length albums of his own, co-founded the choral group The Silver Ages with members of Dr. Dog and The War on Drugs, and is known during the day as John. “As a kid, I practiced my singing to Depeche Mode songs. I had never heard David Bowie’s ‘Win,’ but Chet thought we could make it bold. The melody is weird, so it was challenging. I’m psyched with how moody and dark our version is.”
 
Delcampo is impressed.
 
Heyward wasn’t initially aware of the song,” he explains. “It was a real kick when I heard him carving a space for his voice to reside and owning it.”
 
“My solo music is not typically electronic,” Howkins explains. “This palette gave me freedom to be more emotive and to sing out more.”
 
Maybe the lyric by Howkins that opens “Lateral To The Devil” also harkens back to his life-long love of Depeche Mode. It could easily have come from that band’s mid-career catalog and is satisfying in its intelligence without being too smart for its own good.
 
“Sat lateral to the devil, not above him more on equal,” Howkins sings over quivering electronics and a spare piano figure that gives way to pulsating bass and washes of drums. He continues, singing, “Asked if he knew what it’s like to be human, he said I wouldn’t choose it.”
 
“I enjoy trusting Heyward’s lyrical strengths,” Delcampo states.
 
Coupled with his equally powerful vocals –soulful, stirring, and silent at the right moments – the song is like porcelain. Beautiful and sturdy, but delicate and temporary. It makes the case for brevity.
 
Their names spark curiosity and this brief statement in song does too.
 
Chet Delcampo (aka Chris Madl) is currently in the final stages of wrapping up a new album as Hong Kong Stingray. Heyward Howkins is in the final stages of recording a new solo EP.
 
“Lateral To The Devil” b/w/ “Win,” is the new single from their collaboration Later Fortune, out now.
 
Later Fortune is available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
 
+++
 
Later Fortune | Links
 
ASSETS : INSTAGRAM : FACEBOOK : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE
 
+++
 
Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

No comments: