CARPARK / JUNE 16, 2023 @ MIND PALACE MUSIC

It’s fitting that Philadelphia guitarist Victoria Rose and Baltimore producer/musician Stone Filipczak named their band @ (pronounced “At”) — a symbol that calls to mind the detachment of an email exchange or a Twitter mention. The folk-pop duo created their debut album Mind Palace Music almost entirely remotely from, sending each other recordings over iMessage from their respective cities throughout fall/winter 2020. But although its creators were 100 miles away, the 11-track album gleams with a sense of closeness, tied together with @’s penchant for deeply personal and candid lyrics.

With an affinity for blending digital with analog elements, @ describe Mind Palace Music as “hyperfolk,” though the record never feels self-indulgent — hitting the sweet spot between pleasantly familiar and refreshingly innovative. “We were pretty aware of trying to make something well-crafted that would hold up,” Filipczak says. “I was stoked that I could show some of the tracks to my grandma and she would be able to dig it. It probably doesn’t sound that different from, like, Simon and Garfunkel to her.”

Rose and Filipczak are just as inspired by the thoughtful delicacy of ambient pioneers like Laurie Spiegel as they are by the timeless quality of singer-songwriters like Vashti Bunyan. You can feel the influence of those ‘70s folk greats on songs like “Where’d You Put Me,” a drumfree incantation that culminates with a flute solo from Filipczak. Elsewhere, @ evoke the tender drone and foolproof melodies of Elliott Smith, Alex G, or Sparklehorse, like on the spare acoustic ditty “Friendship is Frequency” or the bittersweet “Cut From Toxic Cloth”: “While I’m waiting for my mind and face to sync/I smile to my heart and I think/I like you just the way you are,” Filipczak murmurs on the latter. A subtle eeriness looms in the background throughout Mind Palace Music, preventing it from feeling too outdated or hackneyed.

@ test their limits further on songs like the chugging closer “My Garden,” where Rose and Filipczak’s striking arrangements build to a triumphant coda as Rose mulls over the frustrations of a relationship’s natural ebbs and flows and the “curse” of desire: “I don’t want intensity, no/Just a way to warmth and amity,” she sings. @ know that some of the most rewarding moments in life don’t come easily, and Mind Palace Music is no exception. But sometimes, even the hard work flows out naturally: “It was truly a something from nothing type of experience,” Filipczak says. “We just shared a bunch of music until we started collaborating, and then once we started, we didn’t want to stop.”

HIGHLIGHTS

• North American publicity by Hive Mind

• College/Non-Commercial radio by Terrorbird

• Sync licensing by Terrorbird

• Pressed on Tangerine vinyl and includes digital download card

• Music videos for “Friendship is Frequency,” “Where’d You Put Me,” and “Letters”

@ MIND PALACE MUSIC CAK167

Street Date: June 16, 2023

File Under: Indie/Folk

LP (Tangerine Vinyl) UPC 677517016741

CS UPC 677517016734

DISTRIBUTION CONTACT jillw@redeyeworldwide.com

TRACKLISTING

1. Parapet

2. Star Game

3. Letters

4. Friendship is Frequency

5. Boxwood Lane

6. Where’d You Put Me

7. Major Blue Empty

8. First Journal

9. Cut From Toxic Cloth

10. Camera Phone

11. My Garden

RIYL

Alex G Vashti Bunyan

Bon Iver

Elliot Smith

The Microphones

SUNYEARS COME FETCH MY SOUL!

WORLDWIDE RELEASE DATE CD/LP: JUNE 16, 2023

Peter Morén (Peter Bjorn and John) debuts his new project, SunYears, with an album of guitar based folk/ rock songs and numerous collaborations.

“As you get older, it gets easier to write songs because you become more vulnerable in a different way,” Morén explains of the bold and open-hearted song ‘Come Fetch My Soul!’ featuring Jess Williamson, offering, “it’s about being overwhelmed by the love you have for your partner, and this feeling of putting yourself in the hands of something or someone else.”

The 10-track album’s melodic wisdom immediately feels familiar yet is unexplored territory for Morén, who delivers a collection of tunes that instantly feel timeless. Ranging from wistful folk and Beatles-esque pop to psychedelic guitar jangle and shimmering balladry, the album is a result of nostalgic listening habits and thematically from dreams, most notably the rockabilly-esque track “Last Night I Dreamt I Met Phil & Don,” which takes inspiration from a dream meeting pop legends the Everly Brothers. For the album, Morén enlisted fellow indie artists Ron Sexsmith, Jess Williamson, Eric Johnson (Fruit Bats, Bonny Light Horseman), and Kathryn Williams, which resulted in multiple duets throughout the album. The closing track “Wake Up,” written during a songwriting retreat, features Ren Harvieu. “During that trip, we sang a lot together in different groups,” explains Morén, “and it was that spirituality of singing with other people that I want to bring into this record.”

An open-ended name that references both the classic sound of 1950’s Sun Records and the passage of time itself, SunYears has been years in the making with a figurative birth that came during the pandemic. With touring scrapped, Morén rediscovered his love of playing guitar in solitude and the art of collaboration, which he did with a tight-knit group of friends and peers in his hometown of Stockholm.

Despite evoking the music of the past, Come Fetch My Soul ultimately embodies Morén’s desire to look to the future, both of the project and of his career as a songwriter in general. “At my age, I’m becoming more relaxed when it comes to how I make music,” he reflects. “I feel more comfortable now, and I could make music like this for the rest of my life.”

HIGHLIGHTS:

☛ Debut album from new Peter Morén (Peter Bjorn and John) project

☛ Special guests include: Ron Sexsmith, Fruit Bats, Jess Williamson and Kathryn Williams

1. Come Fetch My Soul! (feat. Jess Williamson)

2. Day To Day Way

3. Two Birds, Mid-Flight

4. Granddad’s Song (feat. Ron Sexsmith)

5. A Dog’s Life

6. Slipping Away

7. These Quiet Tunes

8. Last Night I Dreamt That I Met Phil & Don (Feat. Fruit Bats)

9. Wordy

10. Wake Up! (feat. Ren Harvieu & Kathryn Williams)

ARTIST: SunYears TITLE: Come Fetch My Soul!

UPC: 634457118225 SKU: CD-YEP-3071

PACKAGING: CD Wallet

TERRITORY: Worldwide BOX LOT: 20

ARTIST: SunYears TITLE: Come Fetch My Soul! UPC: 634457118218

SKU: LP-YEP-3071C

PACKAGING:

RELEASE DATE: 16th June 2023