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Today, Brooklyn-based psych-pop trio Psychic Lines announces their fifth studio album SUNSET ON SUNSET due out August 23 and available for pre-order now. Alongside the announcement, the band shares bright, bouncy track and colorful, hand-drawn video "Mind Control" out now. On June 22, the band will celebrate the new music with a free show at Brooklyn's Mama Tried–find more information here.
SUNSET ON SUNSET sounds unlike any previous Psychic Lines release. Lead singer-songwriter Phil Jacob shares, "Lyrically, the album touches on all the delusions we cling to. They may give us hope and spur us on but set us up for disappointment when we inevitably discover that the real world doesn't quite measure up. Many of these delusions are shaped by our lifelong immersion in social media, film and television." The LP delves into escapism and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of the surrounding fast-paced world. Jacob continues, "In order to bridge this reality gap, we further deceive ourselves and others, seeking escape in the same stories and mythologies that caused our faulty expectations in the first place." These deceptions and coping mechanisms form a backdrop for the darkly surrealistic, yet wryly humorous collection of tunes on this album.
Basic tracks were recorded by Charles Burst in two sessions–one at the dearly departed Seaside Lounge Recording, and the other at Figure 8 Recording. Both sessions were tracked live with Phil Jacob on guitar, Dann Baker on bass, and Tim Simmonds on drums. Overdubs were recorded at Jacob's studio during the pandemic lockdown and Burst came back to mix the project in 2022. The album was mastered by Carl Saff and the artwork was done by Andrew Sax.
On "Mind Control," Phil Jacob drew inspiration from Captain Beefheart, incorporating some of the rhythmic ideas found in The Magic Band’s music. Jacob says of the track's lyrical content, "As with the rest of SUNSET ON SUNSET, the lyrics deal with comparing our lives to our perceptions of other people’s lives. Ultimately, if we want to be fully engaged with the world around us, we have to break these negative cycles with positive thoughts that lead to positive actions."
Watch "Mind Control" (Official Video)
The accompanying video for “Mind Control” was hand-drawn frame by frame by Kendraplex. Jacob aimed to mirror the feelings the song evokes with its visual, and shares, "I was thinking about the rotoscoping techniques used in Richard Linklater’s 'Waking Life' and loved Kendra’s video for 'One at a Time' by Garcia Peoples. I felt that an impressionistic approach of that sort might work well for this tune, since it’s all about the kinds of internal dialogues we have with ourselves, comparing our lives with what we see in the media and the assumptions we make about people in our own circles. We crafted the video with clips of the band playing bass and drums, and I used a fisheye lens to get some fun guitar and saxophone shots."
Psychic Lines began in 2008 with the release of their debut album, Cubicle Puppets. Currently, the band is made up of Phil Jacob on guitar and sax, Dann Baker (Love Camp 7, Eljin Marbles) on bass, and Nancy Polstein (Girls on Grass) on drums. In 2013, the band shared their sophomore effort Everything Keeps Getting Brighter, and followed it up 6 years later with Dance, Cartoon Skeleton. The Vinyl District raves about the band and release, writing, "A delectable blend of sparkling freak folk...Dance, Cartoon Skeleton is definitely an album that should be savored from beginning to end." Late Nite Psychic arrived in 2020, and 2022 saw the release of the live album Phil Plays Wonders of Nature 7/1/18. Now, in 2024, Psychic Lines are prepared to re-introduce themselves with a thoughtful, self-assured body of work that features layered, gripping instrumentation and timely lyricism. In addition to the band, Jacob is part of the instrumental quintet Vague Plot who released their debut album CRYING IN 9 in March.
Psychic Lines' melodic, immersive fifth studio album SUNSET ON SUNSET is due out August 23 and is available for pre-order now. The bouncy, bright single "Mind Control," is out today, and see the band celebrate the new music live in Brooklyn at Mama Tried on June 22, more information here. Connect with the psych-pop band now on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube and stay tuned for much more to come.
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