“Self Care” is about… self-care. “It’s the most vulnerable record I have ever made,” says Pacifico’s Matthew Schwartz about his first album in five years.

Explosive new songs feature all-stars such as Peter Randall (bassist with The Kooks and Adele); Hear candid, confessional lead track “Feel Alive” now.

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Matthew Schwartz of Pacifico as photographed by Mike Dunn for Rust + Rebel

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Pacifico | “Feel Alive”

[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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Pacifico | Links

ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : INSTAGRAM : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE : PACIFIRECORDS
 
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

Instrumental bass guitar & vibraphone duo CLIFFWALKER “casually skirts past math rock, jazz, and minimalist classical like ships in the night” with “Calm Sea” video, streaming now.

“Gloriously mesmerizing” sound compared to sci-fi thrillers, spy movie chase scenes; RIYL John Carpenter, Tangerine Dream; Tortoise, Philip Glass; “Painted Gray Sky” debut EP out now. 

 

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CLIFFWALKER (L-R): Cliff Hayes, A. Walker Spring. Photo credit: Cliff Hayes, A. Walker Spring.

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CLIFFWALKER | In The Press

“Feels like it could be the score of an 80s sci-fi thriller.” — Glide Magazine

“Produces the experience of a spy-movie chase scene.” — Independent Clauses

“Gloriously mesmerizing.” — Treble

“Edgy, pulsating... Compelling and progressive.” — Ghettoblaster

“The vibraphone… It’s here in its glassy and funky finest.” — Higher Plain Music

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CLIFFWALKER | “Calm Sea”

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTjFgpzsnOo

“A breath of fresh air and a deeply nostalgic look into the 1960’s aesthetic,” says music discovery website Fecking Bahamas about the “Calm Sea” music video by Portland, Oregon-based “crime jazz” duo, CLIFFWALKER. “Comparisons to espionage composers like John Barry or Lalo Schifrin... The duo casually skirts past math rock, jazz, and minimalist classical like ships in the night.”

About the cinematic clip, CLIFFWALKER’s Cliff Hayes explains, “Kyros Papavassiliou, the co-writer and director of the film ‘Impressions of a Drowned Man’ is a dear friend, and I admire his work as an artist and filmmaker. The film has many ties to water and I see it as highlighting two things: Living your life with intention and care, and being content with the choices you make.”

Papavassiliou gave his blessing for the use of clips from ‘Impressions of a Drowned Man’ to form the “Calm Sea” video. Of the film itself, Papavassiliou adds, “The film is about the responsibility towards the preciousness of life, and about the responsibility of offering without waiting for something in exchange, i.e. the function of poetry and art in general that is almost forgotten in our times.”

See the music video for “Calm Sea” by CLIFFWALKER at Fecking Bahamas or the link above.

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CLIFFWALKER
“Painted Gray Sky” EP
(S/R)
Out Now

Streaming Link:

STREAM FULL EP

Track Listing:
 
01. Calm Sea (VIDEO)
02. Painted Gray Sky
03. Reflected Sun (STREAM)
04. On Her Last Legs
05. Pulling Threads (STREAM | VIDEO)
06. Punching Clocks (STREAM | VIDEO)
 
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CLIFFWALKER | “Pulling Threads”
 

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r8g7kUIZ00

[STREAM]: https://fanatic.lnk.to/cliffwalker-pullingthreads

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Stream “Pulling Threads” by CLIFFWALKER at the links above or here.

CLIFFWALKER, the Portland, Oregon-based instrumental duo of Cliff Hayes (Bass, Keys) and A. Walker Spring (Vibes, Drums, Keys, Guitar), released its debut EP “Painted Gray Sky” on June 24.

“When it came to making this video, I thought that Walker’s vibraphone gave the song a bit of a ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ feel,” says Hayes. “Combined with my microsynth-fueled bass line, the song approaches something like an electronica ballet.”

Hayes further comments on the concept saying, “I was at lunch with some co-workers one afternoon when one of them brought up ‘gloving’ from the rave scene. Inspired by gloving, I realized I could buy neon strings, put them on the bass, wear white gloves and perform under UV light to get a somewhat similar effect. We focused on our hands (or mallets) to get interesting shapes and perspectives of our performances.

“It just worked out that our instruments filled up the frame while cutting off our heads and that was perfect because I wanted the focus to be on our hands not our faces. The homemade ‘I'm hiding from the cops’ shirt is what Walker chose to wear when I came over to film her.”

Hayes recently chatted with Ghettoblaster Magazine about what comes next for CLIFFWALKER. Read the in-depth full interview here.

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CLIFFWALKER | About

 

 
CLIFFWALKER is not just a cool name for a band.
 
The Portland, Oregon-based instrumental duo of Cliff Hayes (Bass, Keys) and A. Walker Spring (Vibes, Drums, Keys, Guitar) are just lucky to be named that way. To take the serendipity a step (sorry, had to) further, the sound of the pair’s upcoming “Painted Gray Sky” EP (out June 24, 2022) is also edgy.
 
We can dispense with the puns now, let’s talk about the music:
 
It’s like if a sexy Kraftwerk had joined in on the sessions with jazz legend Don Cherry and composer Ron Frangipane scoring Alejandro Jodorowsky’s “The Holy Mountain.”
 
Or maybe they picked up John Carpenter on the way to Tangerine Dream’s studio to make the music for Michael Mann’s neo-noir heist action thriller “Thief.”
 
The repeating riffs of minimalist composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Terry Riley are also touchstones, and for those born more recently, Hayes and Spring suggest that the instrumentation on “Painted Gray Sky” is in the vein of Tortoise, but driven by bass lines a la Death From Above 1979.
 
Either way, the 1970s are coming in hot, no matter what!
 
Skipping forward a half-century, CLIFFWALKER came to fruition under the gray skies of the Pacific Northwest as Hayes was constructing a “library of bass riffs” (“Cliff’s Riffs!”)
 
“My toying with riffs started to morph into learning cover songs and then trying to cover these songs entirely on bass,” Hayes explains.
 
As it turns out, the “library of bass riffs” further morphed into “Painted Gray Sky,” as the melodic bass work of Hayes laid the foundation for Spring’s hypnotic vibraphone, guitar, and synth lines.
 
As well as playing in Portland’s beloved indie rock outfit Point Juncture, WA since 2004, Spring has co-hosted a weekly songwriting podcast since 2020 called “Honest Jams,” where she’s honed a diverse set of arranging skills, which are given free rein on “Painted Gray Sky.”
 
From Classical, through to Jazz and post-Rock, instrumental music is not novel. It’s not Pop either, but here, CLIFFWALKER manages hooks without the aid of vocals. This quality lets the natural rhythms of CLIFFWALKER’s songs shine without distraction.
 
And all of these references to musical genres count as influences in the CLIFFWALKER sound.
 
While Hayes was working to become a top-notch Jazz bassist in his early college years by “practicing a lot of scales and arpeggios and reading a lot of charts,” he was also immersed in all kinds of music as a record store employee, the guilty party in so many musicians’ burgeoning career paths.
 
“Nearly all my waking moments were spent playing, listening, or learning about music,” he remembers.
 
Hayes relocated to Portland in 2005 and some years later, via fleeting meetings at the gigs of mutual friends, found himself in a conversation about artificial intelligence (in 2014!) with a producer friend of Spring’s.
 
“I was discussing how AI could be created to produce music by feeding it a library of riffs to train itself,” Hayes says.
 
Soon after, Hayes started recording his riffs at home with this idea in mind, and eventually wondered if Spring might be interested in playing drums with him on some material.
 
“Before I left that first session, we had already started recording the basic bass, drums and vibes that are on the final EP.”
 
“Painted Gray Sky” by CLIFFWALKER is out now. Members of CLIFFWALKER are available for interviews. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.
 
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CLIFFWALKER | Links
 
ASSETS : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP
 
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact
 
WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL

I Was A King slims its jangle pop sound to a duo on ninth album “Follow Me Home,” arriving Oct. 28; Latest toe-tapping single “Lo Pressure,” out now.

Earlier recordings include Robyn Hitchcock, Teenage Fanclub; Band’s Frode Strømstad is also one-fourth of The No Ones with R.E.M.’s Peter Buck.

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I Was A King (L-R Frode Strømstad, Anne Lise Frøkedal) as photographed by Donald Milne

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I Was A King | “Lo Pressure”

[STREAM]: https://Fanatic.lnk.to/IWasAKing-LoPressure

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“Everything from the forthcoming Follow Me Home has been nothing short of endearing,” says Austin Town Hall in its coverage of the latest I Was A King single “Lo Pressure,” continuing on to say the song “could be the one I play again and again for the duration of this year.”

Hear “Lo Pressure” by I Was A King now at Austin Town Hall here or at the link above.

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I Was A King

Follow Me Home LP

(Coastal Town Recordings)

Oct. 28, 2022

 
 

Track Listing:

01. All This Time

02. Down

03. Follow Me Home (STREAM)

04. Growing Wild

05. Here At Last (STREAM)

06. Know The Way

07. Flag

08. Leave

09. Lo Pressure (STREAM)

10. Getting Colder

11. Sweet Things

12. Wood & Stone

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I Was A King | Live

11/02/2022: Stavanger, Norway @ Tou Scene

11/03/2022: Oslo, Norway @ Kampen Bistro (w/ Gary Olson of The Ladybug Transistor)

11/04/2022: Porsgrunn, Norway @ Ælvespeilet Kulturhus

11/05/2022: Moss, Norway @ House Of Foundation

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I Was A King | About
 

The front cover art for Follow Me Home, the ninth album by Oslo, Norway’s I Was A King (Coastal Town Recordings, Oct. 28) displays dotted lines that correspond to colorful cutouts on the back cover, one for each of the album’s twelve songs.

This is an innocent, childlike prompt to play it like a puzzle, literally, but on a more figurative note, this bit of fun also feels like a suggestion to fill in the blanks on what these songs mean to the listener.

Album opener “All This Time” is a just shy of two-minute prologue, foreshadowing the bits of melancholy carried throughout the album, fully realized on the following cut “Down.”

Gentle whispers

from the ground

you’re awake

but you’re still dreaming of the sound

when the shadow calls

breathing down your neck

awaiting a response

The feelings these lyrics evoke are moving, delivered with the insistent, singular-sounding combined voices of the band’s co-writers Frode Strømstad and Anne Lise Frøkedal, and bringing about that deep understanding of shared human condition that, even when packaged in the few minutes of a pop-rock song, is powerful enough to move mountains (and navigate fjords!)

In the case of I Was A King, the band has been around long enough to navigate without a map. Follow Me Home is clearly the sound of hard-won confidence.

Formed by Strømstad in 2006, with its debut album released in 2007, I Was A King continued at a steady pace for the next seven years, appearing on almost as many record labels throughout. Some may say the band’s sound went through just as many iterations during this time.

2009’s self-titled sophomore album featured contributions from Sufjan Stevens and Gary Olson of The Ladybug Transistor (on the Follow Me Home single “Growing Wild” you’ll be reminded of Sufjan’s banjo flourishes mixed with the opening notes of a Sonic Youth tune.)

2010’s Old Friends brought elements of Big Star and The Stooges into the mix and in 2012 indie rock icons Robyn Hitchcock and Norman Blake (of Teenage Fanclub) came on board to co-produce and perform on the band’s major label debut You Love It Here.

Following 2014’s Isle of Yours, I Was A King finally took a respite before returning for 2018’s Slow Century. 2020’s Grand Hotel followed.

2022’s Follow Me Home is perfectly titled. The album feels like kicking up your feet in front of the fire after a long journey that was trying, but filled with experience.

In reality, that warm fire would have likely been welcomed during the Follow Me Home recording sessions.

“We recorded Follow Me Home in December of 2021 in a building that had been a very important hub for Norwegian music over the last 20 years,” Strømstad explains. “While we were making the album, the building was emptied, and the heat and water shut off. It has since been demolished.”

Even under these considerably less-than-ideal circumstances, Strømstad and Frøkedal managed to make another reality of the time – producing these recordings during a lockdown – work to their advantage. The minimal take on the sound that I Was A King had been traveling towards all this time is its strongest asset on Follow Me Home.

“The previous two records were very band-oriented,” Strømstad says. “We felt that doing it as a two-piece this time would be a fresh approach, playing instruments we normally don’t play just to get some different ideas and textures and keeping it as simple and organic as possible.”

With Follow Me Home, Strømstad and Frøkedal had to fill in the blank spots in their process, just like the art that adorns the album cover. When the audience places the pieces, a colorful image emerges.

Follow Me Home, the ninth album by Oslo, Norway’s I Was A King, arrives on Oct. 28, 2022 via their own label Coastal Town Recordings. Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

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I Was A King | Links

ASSETS : FACEBOOK : INSTAGRAM : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : BANDCAMP : SPOTIFY : APPLE

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Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion | Contact

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : YOUTUBE : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : BLOG : E-MAIL