Journey to the End of the Night - 4

Emily Reo - One Eye On The Sky

Johnny

Summertime

Los Angeles' Smokescreens are a group of friends who bonded through a love for New Zealand's Flying Nun label, as well as shared inspirations such as The Velvet Underground, The Go-Betweens, The Television Personalities and of course indie pop of all flavors. Their self-titled debut was released to wide acclaim in 2017, and was quickly followed-up with the excellent "Used To Yesterday" in 2018.

Since then they've toured a bit, written a bunch and made some great friends along the way. One new friend and fan is David Kilgour from legendary New Zealand band The Clean, who came to LA to produce Smokescreens' new record "A Strange Dream." Recorded with trusted engineer Kyle Mullarky, this terrific album exhibits a band at the very height of their powers, combining their collective talents into a potent set of songs that's been superbly captured by the team of Kilgour and Mullarky.

From the jaunty pop of opener "Fork In The Road" to the rocking "Streets of Despair" and the dreamy "On and On" this is a record that clearly shows a band that knows it's way around a timeless guitar riff and aching pop melody. Gorgeous ballads like "Nighttime Skies" and "I Love Only You" add a new depth to Smokescreens' sound, and the cover of Scrotum Poles' DIY classic "Pick The Cats Eyes Out" is perfect, and perfectly fun. Add in an evocative cover painting from Mr. Kilgour and you have a record looks as good as it sounds, and will prove to be compulsive listening for any savvy pop fan.

A Strange Dream

Smokescreens - Working Title

Riviera

Debut album "Funtastic" out September 25th 2020 via Howlin' Banana & Cranes Records.

Tapeworms - Safety Crash

Keep My Knees Safe II

Tokyo Music Experience

Written & Produced by Puma Blue
from the upcoming debut album, 'In Praise Of Shadows', out 29th January 2021

Mixed by Marta Salogni
Mastered by Heba Kadry
Bass - Cameron Dawson
Drums - Ellis Dupuy
String Arrangements, Keys, Additional Production - Harvey Grant
Cello - Matthew Roberts
Additional Engineering - Wulu & Kwake Bass
String Arrangements & all other instruments - Puma Blue
Artwork - Liv Hamilton

Lyrics: 
Stood in your last breath, couldn’t believe it was gone
And that weighed a ton, faced with the first death
Steeped in plain regret, you were a sight for sorest eyes
Every word you spoke I swear coulda made me cry
…
And in this dream we fall through velvet leaves,
ushered in reverse through the silk-like purse
Outstretching, unending, except for the ends of you
…
Gotta stay strong for the little one, who found you in your room
Gotta strong for our mumma who, would take the blame however true
Into the room in which you threatened to depart
Damn, it was so hard to let you go that night
When we nearly couldn’t choose
I broke down outside the room
…
I’m praying you survive
And in this dream we fall through velvet leaves,
ushered in reverse through the silk-like purse
Outstretching, unending, except for the ends of you
…
Except for the ends of you, where’s that little girl I knew

In Praise Of Shadows

Velvet Leaves

Pre-order album

Written & Produced by Puma Blue
from the upcoming debut album, 'In Praise Of Shadows', out 29th January 2021

Mixed by Marta Salogni
Mastered by Heba Kadry

Tape Machine & Additional Production - Andrew Sarlo
String Arrangements - Harvey Grant
Cello - Matthew Roberts
Violin - Tim Gardner
Vocals, Programming, Artwork & all other instruments - Puma Blue

lyrics:
To the stretches of our bed, where we once shared threads
Well those days are dead.
Why we cursing at this bloom, as our love escapes the room?
There’s no use in trying to fool, there’s no use
I miss the snow on my skin, I miss feeling pure, miss feeling a thing.
I miss feeling young.
And as her body slipped away, baby I bled dry
Tore a hole right through me
The well became empty and I sat inside
Holding the space where you used to lay by my side
Wrote down the things I had to say
Put them in a letter, that was the best I could think to do
“Here I am”, you said, ‘And here I go...”
Goodbye forever...
Restless angel, I made a mess of you. I know, I know.
And I could never take back my harm, no.
I saw the lights go out.
Paid such a heavy price.
Baby I’m sick treading lines.
I ain’t coming back to you, I won’t give it back, no
I’m so far from my innocence I have forgotten it’s taste
I’d drag on you but why bother, your very essence fogs this lonely place.
Baby, you’re draped over the only light that could fill this room
Beautiful in your way,
but drowning the rest, to doom.

Snowflower

Reverie Neverending

Hallan - Hands Up

Silk Print

Oil Slick

Is It Because

soundcloud:tracks:834084049

Tokyo Music Experience

Rats on Rafts

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