Get out of my head

Tycho "Awake" LP on Ghostly International
Release date: MARCH 18, 2014

Purchase "Awake": shop.iso50.com/collections/awake

formats:
CD/LP/DIGITAL

artwork by:
ISO50

For nearly a decade, Tycho has been known as the musical alias of Scott Hansen, but with the release of Awake – his second LP for Ghostly International – the solo project has evolved into a three-piece band. Relating closer to post-rock than ambient soundscapes, the record is situated in the present, sounding more like Hansen than drawing from his influences. “This is, in many ways, the first true Tycho record.”

Following 2011’s Dive LP, the San Francisco-based designer toured extensively, and with a full band on stage, his sound coalesced into a percussive, organic whole. Zac Brown (guitars, bass) rejoined Scott on the road for this tour, but it was the particular addition of Rory O’Connor’s live drumming that ultimately sent Hansen back to the studio with a more precise vision. “After the tour, I decided that I wanted to capture the more energetic, driven sound of the live show on the next album,” Hansen recalls. Bringing musicians into Tycho’s creative process was a step towards expanding his own songwriting and advancing the project beyond its current sound.

In a cabin near Tahoe last winter, Zac and Scott began fleshing out the structure of the new record, but it wasn’t until they set up shop in the hills of Santa Cruz with Rory that it all fell into place. “It crystallized the vision of how the drums would come to the forefront on this record,” says Hansen. The sound was much more stripped-down and concise with more organic instruments in the fold. Songs like “Montana” and “Awake” are a departure from Tycho’s previous material – unique to the group effort poured into the songs on the new record – while “See” and “Dye” echo ideas from previous works, bridging a middle ground between the old and new. Working with Count Eldridge, who also engineered Dive, the team could fixate on the pulses that Tycho might previously layer under synthesizers and exhume them with distinct bass and guitar patterns.

Also known for his design work as ISO50, Hansen’s visual and sonic efforts have dovetailed throughout the course of his career. “This is the first time in my life I've dropped everything to focus on one artistic pursuit,” notes Hansen. Previous Tycho releases came to fruition when an amalgam of songs were nearing completion, but Awake is where music becomes the focus and true expression becomes the result.

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Awake

Yourself or Someone Like You

Mad Season

If You're Gone

You made me wait two hours flat,
Outside your job, and I’m fine with that,
The radio played our same old song,
And I didn’t mind, I just sang along.

Then you came out with that tired grin,
Shattered breath and city wind,
You said, “Thanks for being patient, babe,”
And I swear, my heart misbehaved.

Then you laughed, said it soft, so sweet,
“You’re my favorite boyfriend,” on repeat,
And I had to tease, couldn’t let it slide,
Said, “Oh, so I’m top five?”

Guess I’m your favorite one,
Between all the guys that don’t exist I won,
You roll your eyes, I play along,
You shake your head, but you still hum my song.
And if I’m number one on your make-believe list,
Then I’ll take that crown with a wink and a kiss,
‘Cause you’re my only, my always one,
And I’m your favorite one.

You said, “Don’t twist it, you know what I mean,”
But I kept grinning like a movie scene,
I said, “Sure, sure, I’ll take the prize,”
You said, “You’re impossible,” with laughing eyes.

We drove through lights, the streets asleep,
Your hand in mine, the promise deep,
It’s funny how those little lines,
Can turn to love that multiplies.

So go ahead, say it once more,
I’ll act confused, just like before,
‘Cause teasing you’s my favorite game,
And loving you’s the realest claim.

Guess I’m your favorite one,
Between all the guys that don’t exist  I won,
You roll your eyes, I play along,
You shake your head, but you still hum my song.
And if I’m number one on your make-believe list,
Then I’ll take that crown with a wink and a kiss,
‘Cause you’re my only, my always one,
And I’m your favorite one.

There’s no competition, no one to beat,
Just us two fools and a car seat,
Waiting two hours was worth the prize,
That look of love in your tired eyes.

Yeah, I’m your favorite one,
Between the dreams and the jokes we spun,
You laugh, I live for that tone,
‘Cause with you I never feel alone.
And if there’s a list, I’ll still insist,
You’re my first, my last, my twist,
So call me your favorite one —
I’ll call you my only sun.

You said it once, I’ll say it twice,
You’re my best mistake, my sweet device,
So yeah, I’m your favorite one…
And that’s enough for life. 

Favorite One

N3V3R B LIK3 U - Huglife Edit "Free Download"

Did You Hear the Rain?

Budapest

Queen Of The Clouds

Habits (Stay High) (Hippie Sabotage Remix)

Long Day

Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits 1991 - 2001

Pinch Me (Radio Version)

Dizzy up the Girl

Black Balloon

Coexist

Angels

Her Diamonds

Formed in Florida, Matchbox Twenty entered the world with a blockbuster -- 1996's YOURSELF OR SOMEONE LIKE YOU. The debut set spawned five hit singles -- "Push," "3 am," "Real World," "Long Day" and "Back 2 Good" and snagged an RIAA Diamond Award certification for U.S. sales exceeding more than 12 million to date. Thomas also raised the band's profile by co-writing and singing on Santana's Grammy Award-winning 1999 smash "Smooth." Matchbox Twenty maintained the momentum with MAD SEASON in 2000 and "MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU ARE in 2002, both of which went multi-platinum and continued to spit out hits such as "Bent," "Unwell," "If You're Gone," "Bright Lights" and "Disease."

But after three albums of hard work and equally hard touring, Matchbox Twenty was ready for a break. Thomas released a pair of Top 5 solo albums which contained several #1 singles, Doucette worked with his band The Break and Repair Method and wrote film music, while Cook led the New Left. The hiatus not only renewed Matchbox Twenty as a band but also seasoned the individual members even further as they came back together for 2007's EXILE ON MAINSTREAM, a greatest hits collection that sported six inspired new tracks which were co-written by the band for the first time ever and included their biggest selling single to date “How Far We’ve Come”. 

In addition to more than 30 million records sold worldwide, Matchbox Twenty has also earned countless accolades, including five Grammy nominations, four American Music Award nods, the 2004 People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Musical Group, and they were named “Best New Band” in the 1997 Rolling Stone Readers Poll.

After EXILE ON MAINSTREAM's Top 5 success, Matchbox Twenty continued the collaborative process as it headed towards NORTH. The romantic "Overjoyed," according to both Thomas and Doucette, was "the first time we felt like we had something special”. Kyle Cook took lead vocals on the incredible ballad "The Way," which he and Doucette penned together. "She's So Mean," meanwhile, represents a "storytelling exercise" during which Thomas, Doucette and Cook sat around a microphone free styling lyrics that they eventually sculpted into the cautionary tale about a hard-to-handle woman who Doucette promises bears no similarity to anyone in the group members' real lives. Listening deeper to NORTH reveals even more different nuances, approaches and feels because of the group-writing dynamic.
 
"Matchbox Twenty is pretty all-encompassing," Doucette says. "Once it gets rolling, we just devote all our time and energy to that. I can speak for everybody on this; it's the thing we hold the most dear because it's the thing we built the longest, so we want to give it its due. We don't make records that often anymore, so when we do we want to devote our time and energy to not only doing it; but also bringing that music to the fans."

Long Day

Matchbox Twenty

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