Band’s
upcoming “Self Care” album — its first in five years — features all-stars such
as Peter Randall (bassist with The Kooks, Adele); See video now.
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Matthew
Schwartz of Pacifico as
photographed by Mike Dunn for Rust + Rebel
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Pacifico | “Don’t Play Dead”
[YOUTUBE]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5hxvLb_WAo
[SOUNDCLOUD]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/pacifico-feel-alive
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“This song is about addiction,” Matthew Schwartz of Pacifico
says of “Feel Alive,” the lead track
from Self
Care, his first album in five years (scheduled for release via Pacifirecords on Feb. 10, 2023.)
Owing to the album’s candor and blunt honesty, Schwartz reveals, “It’s me trying to
imagine what it’s like to lead my first AA meeting.”
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Pacifico | About
When we last heard from Matthew Schwartz of Pacifico
on his early 2022 EP release “‘05/‘22,”
we were hearing the Matthew Schwartz
of Pacifico from 17 years earlier.
True to the title, much of that explosive batch of
songs was recorded in 2005, misplaced via hard drive in the pre-cloud era, then
eventually found, completed, and released.
On the upcoming full-length Self Care (Pacifirecords, Feb. 10, 2023), now sounds like NOW.
Schwartz’s first full-length in five years comes with all of
the pent-up emotion one would expect from meticulously composing a statement
under the veil of cleaning out a desk drawer of old material (literally, in
this case.)
“Wait
Hold my beer
There’s so many things I’d love to say if I don’t just
walk away from here”
The lyrics, from one of the album’s upcoming singles “Comatose,” shares an energy with early-2000s
skate punk, but from the wise perspective of a now mature voice who would
naturally follow-up the above lyric with:
“You used to be such a good friend
So I’ve taken it upon myself to grab things and call
this the end”
That’s what self-care is about.
“The lyrics on this album all center on self-care,” Schwartz confirms. “This is the most
diverse and most vulnerable group of songs I have ever created.”
The album isn’t called Self Help for a reason. It’s
Self
Care, and there’s a difference.
From songs about not giving up, to going for your
goals, to being a present listener and creating healthy boundaries, Self
Care reflects a willingness to enjoy the journey, come what may.
“It’s also about encouraging and loving others,” Schwartz says.
“It’s ok
None of this matters anyway
We all make mistakes
Hell I just made more than three today”
A song written for his wife, these lyrics come from
the so-catchy-it’s-criminal “Don’t Play
Dead,” the lead single from Self Care.
“It’s my letter of encouragement to her,” Schwartz explains. “I also want this
song to encourage anyone who becomes stuck.”
That’s what self-care is about.
Self Care,
the album, however, isn’t all about straight up the middle earworms.
The various styles that Schwartz and his world-class collaborators stich seamlessly include
genres from 1950s to tomorrow.
Some of the artists and musicians who worked on Self
Care include Peter Randall
(bassist with Seal, Adele, and The Kooks) and Shane Tutmarc
of Dolour (featured on the track “Haunt You,” in addition to providing
backing vocals, keys, and percussion.) Self Care was mixed by Aaron Sprinkle, best known as a platinum
record-earning and chart-topping producer, with artwork is by Adult Swim’s Trey Wadsworth.
“There are fast punk songs, slow acoustic ballads,
strings, piano, horns, and everything in-between,” Schwartz says.
“Hearts on
Fire” is a soulful detour near the
end of the album’s first half that shows off the nimble dexterity of the
writing and playing here. Calling Jeff Buckley,
Lenny Kravitz, and Janelle Monae’s sounds as influences on
the song, it fades with the glory of a choir.
“Complicated,
Confiscated,” the album’s penultimate
song, is clearly a nod to Elliott Smith.
A plaintive acoustic number, it is rendered with as much respect as the
legendary songwriter commands (and with as much beauty.) Schwartz’s empathetic connection to Smith runs deep.
“Complicated
This picture’s faded
I’m all but gone from here right now”
“‘Complicated,
Confiscated’ expresses exactly how I feel when I am overcome with
depression,” Schwartz confides. I
have used this song by singing it like a mantra to help me work through tough
times.”
And that’s what Self Care is about.
Self Care,
the fourth full-length album by Atlanta-based Pacifico arrives Feb. 10,
2023 preceded by the singles “Don’t
Play Dead” (Oct. 21), “Afterglow” (Nov. 11), “Comatose” (Jan. 6), and “Complicated, Confiscated” (Jan.
27).
Matthew
Schwartz of Pacifico is available for interviews. Contact Josh
Bloom at Fanatic for
more information.
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