Winlaton (win-lay-ton) is the third single released by the Ilfords since their 2022 rebirth.

Our David on Winlaton: 'Winlaton was written during deep lockdown. Nothing was open and late night running was the only space I had to myself. I suppose it reflects on what methods you can try to use when you feel lost. On one late night trek however, I realised I wasn’t just lost mentally at that time but geographically as I’d managed to run all the way to Winlaton.'

Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Ady Hall and Lee McCarthy of Sugar House Productions
Recorded at Catalyst Studios, St Helens
Mastered by Nick Watson of Fluid Mastering

Winlaton

self-destruct

Mystic Pizza

Sixpence

En Plein Air

Hotel Life

Another Lad Insane

Vive La Vie

“The White Wall” is the fourth single to be released from Sydney indie rock three-piece Crystal Cities forthcoming third LP, I Should Have Known That This Was War. 

The single is the group’s most hard-hitting and assertive track in a while. While the band’s iconic reverb-drenched dreamscapes are still present, the more energetic and aggressive performances from each member on this track don’t go unnoticed. 

“The White Wall” captures the listener’s attention immediately with its stark intro; a thunderous drum groove with only vocals to accompany it. Geoff Rana’s lyrics are biting: “My God, I can’t believe it, that you have fallen for this now. The lights are barely flicking, but you can’t wait to put them out.” 


The guitar and bass tightly interweave with one another in the verses to create a kind of claustrophobic tension, before the song finally opens up into an ocean of guitar ambience with Rana asking the listener, “Did I tell you about the time? Yeah, behind the white wall.”

“‘The white wall’ is a term I read about, regarding the illusion of reality, where behind the white wall lies the truth about our existence. I related this concept to my experience during the Covid lockdowns and the psychological warfare I found myself in during this time; unable to reach for any kind of solid truth within the fog of mass hysteria…”
⁣- Geoff Rana (vocals/guitar/keys)


Lead vocalist and guitarist/keyboardist Geoff Rana has been spending days on end in his self-made studio where he’s been writing, producing and engineering the band’s latest material.

While the band’s previous effort - their sophomore album Hold Me Close Hold Me Tight - was an exercise in hard-hitting alternative rock that could rattle a live audience, the band’s third LP, I Should Have Known That This Was War, feels more explorative and colourful (at least from the three singles released from the band thus far:“Love Don’t Live Here Anymore”“I Should Have Known That This Was War”, and “The Strangest Dream”). 

This new album also marks the departure of previous drummer Daniel Conte and the arrival of new drummer Neel Shukla. Neel, Geoff and Jared have a long-standing relationship that spans all the way back to when they all studied Contemporary Music Performance together at The Australian Institute of Music in Sydney.

Long-time Crystal Cities collaborator Paul Lani (David Bowie, Prince) was once again tapped to handle mixing and mastering duties for the recording.

Since the band’s formation in 2016 they have released a highly praised EP - Who’s Gonna Save Us Now (2017) - and two critically acclaimed albums - Under The Cold Light of the Moon (2019) and Hold Me Close Hold Me Tight (2021). There is no scheduled release date for the band’s forthcoming third album.

I Should Have Known That This Was War

The White Wall

Download the track for free above or pay if you want on Bandcamp: http://bit.ly/daoda_bc

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Lyrics:
I’m lost. Unknown.
Promised to let it go.
Why don’t you float?
Rest. Breathe in slow.
Promise, do what you’re told.
Unconscious woes.
Now, do what you’re told.

Phased out, for the first time I feel woken.
Can you hold me up?
I need you to show me.
 
About:
This track was written & recorded back in 2019 when I was still living in Manhattan. 

A lot of DAODA songs start by coming up with a picking guitar part, looping it, and building around it. This track was no different. When creating a song this way, the process is unique because it's built gradually. You never know exactly where the song is going to go & this can often take time, leaving you with an idea that's never fully finished.

In NYC, I would record the vocals in a small closet that was in our tiny bedroom. My vocal approach is typically rifling off 5-8 good takes with the intention of comping a vocal track and stacking as many vocal parts as I can on the final mix.

It goes without saying, but the track sat on my hard drive for a number of years. There's no real other explanation for this other than life gets in the way and creatively, you're always chasing something new. It's more fun to sit down and create a new song than it is to pull up an old project file & continue to work on something that's "old" to you.

My plan was to release a newer song called "Forevermore" before dropping "Hold Fast." However, it didn't make sense to put that out before this song - it would be like I'd be stepping backwards sonically.

Instead of doing some tweaks to the original session and putting out what was essentially a demo, I wanted to "complete" the song. This is the last full song I recorded while living in NYC and I felt I needed to close that loop to give the track the attention it deserved. I even found a photo from around the same era this was recorded and used it as the cover art for this track.

The guitar and bass were recorded straight to DI. Back then, I was taking a minimalist / in the box approach by using Ableton plugins for guitar/bass sounds. This could have been an aesthetic approach, laziness, or the lack of a direct inject box to use my VOX AC15 (no surprise, but neighbors don't like when you crank amps in apartment buildings). More recently, I bought AmpliTube 5 to create samples to send to hip hop producers. I tossed a couple different amp models (JC-120, Fender Twin Reverb, etc.) and the plugin instantly brought the DI tracks to life. 

I replaced the drums with the "1987" samples from a company called, Circles Drum Samples. These helped play into the different late 80's / early 90's vibe I was looking to capture while still keeping the song sounding modern.

Hold Fast

Silent Ambition II

Daisy in a Retail Setting

day-oh-duh
daodamusic@gmail.com

Other projects:
@PALMLINES

Hold Fast

DAODA

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