Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Album: Field of Appearances, out March 3rd via Profound Lore
RIYL: Clocks. Hopelessness. Hooks.
This clear glut of nostalgia-focused art we’ve seen in the wake of Stranger Things (somehow still) has been awesome and awful in near equal measure. For every retro record that ruled, there were maybe more that were mediocre at best. There’s a big gap between The Midnight and two guys with a synthesizer and auto-tune, right? Object of Affection live in that liminal space between old-school and fresh, nostalgia and actually nice. There’s a real sense of haze over Field of Appearances, where every rhythm, melody, and riff is drenched in reverb, though it’s clear that the members wanted to write a pop record first and foremost. What many others have tried, the LA act – featuring members of Fury, Death Bells, and LOCK – have nailed here: letting all the anxieties, frustrations, and hope that made classic gloomy post-punk, searing synthpop, and pre-grunge alternative rock so killer 30-40 years ago (yes…); all of it is filtered through laser-focused songwriting and absolutely stellar hooks. “Laying Claim” has a real place in my head and heart for years to come. This is the perfect windows-down sunny day road trip record.
The contrast of light and dark and the balance therein worked its way into the themes of the record:
“It’s about how as much as things change, they end up staying the same,” guitarist Madison Woodward says. “It’s just about how time passes.”
“I think the uniting theme,” vocalist Colin Knight adds, “is sort of how we perceive time passing and how that can feel boring or sometimes sad, or sometimes it can feel really good to just feel it going by without having any control over it. The record is also about hopelessness and how dull I feel.”
“Yeah,” Woodward concurs, “it’s about lacking control and how we perceive that individually.”
