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https://open.spotify.com/artist/7FngGIEGgN3Iwauw1MvO4P

Los Angeles music collective Sumeau wants you to join their cult. The nine-piece dream-pop band invites fans to participate in their structured whimsicality—blurring the line between performer and audience. Just strap on a fanny pack and sing along in their secular psychedelic temple. 

Kat Primeau, the band's lyricist, lead singer, and director of blissful experiences, co-founded the band with multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter Christopher Sousa while working on staff at Hollywood's renovated EastWest Studios, the famed former recording base for legends like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and The Beach Boys. During slow studio days, they'd tinker with sounds, recruiting musician friends to drop by after work. They eventually compiled enough songs for their self-titled 2014 debut, Sumeau (His "Su"+ her "Meau"="Sumeau," like the wrestler).

Sumeau remained a duo for their first cross country tour with the aid of a loop pedal. But they realized their sound was too expansive for that scaled-back format, and kept accepting their friend's offers to come and play until they reached their current core group of Harrison Lee, their primary orchestral arranger on cello and Moog synth, guitarist George Chammas, keyboardist Dan Macken, violinist Julia Chalker, vocalist Molly Dworsky, drummer Alex Keenan, and aux percussionist Ian McAllister. 

Their second LP, TBA, was tracked at EastWest in 2018 with versatile engineer Tyler Shields (The War on Drugs, Kamasi Washington, Mac Miller). From the Beach House-y, #MeToo-inspired swirl of "You Do You" to the cascading, oceanic grooves of "Watermelon Sky", the album is lush but always anchored in melody. 

Helleau emerged during a zen-like weekend recording stint, tracking mostly live in the room. They were so transformed by the experience that Primeau handed out holiday cards from the band which said "Merry Bliss-mas." That phrase may describe Sumeau better than any other. "The idea of creating a sense of bliss, euphoria, magic in every experience—that session was a reaffirmation of what we're doing," Chammas says. 

"Every time we rehearse or play together, I leave energized, my face hurting from so much smiling," says Primeau. "There's a really good vibe, everyone contributes like little bliss babies."

One man, two-handed, transcontinental band. Bedroom indie pop. NJ/CA

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