New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Chicago based synth-pop group Course has announced their debut album A Late Hour will release this spring on May 21st. Today, they shared the video for their lead single "Give It All Away," a dreamy vamping ballad. Under The Radar stated, "The band's rich combination of talents and collaborative approach is immediately evident in 'Give It All Away'...Each element comes together beautifully, coalescing into a lush dream pop tapestry."
Of the track, singer/guitarist Jess Robbins stated, "As a songwriter, I wanted to challenge myself to write a song with two chords and focus on vibe and energy, which is a departure from my writing in the past where I really worked on craft and lyrics. This time, I just wanted to free write, free associate, both musically and lyrically. This freedom helped me relax into what became a theme of the album and I think this is a great representation of that."
She continued, "We were lucky to work with choreographer
Lizzie MacKenzie and film director Lenny Gilmore on the video, both with the vision and implementation. The dancers were incredible, dancing in masks for hours, and really brought a special quality to the piece."
Comprised of veteran musicians Robbins, Chris Dye (drums), Dan Ingenthron (synth/keys), Mikey Russell (guitar), and Brian Weekly (bass), Course blends diverse aspects of dream-pop, 90's new-wave, alternative, electronic, and indie rock. Drawing on Robbins' indie-folk roots, Course incorporates polished, modern production and lush electronic instrumentation to create songs with a characteristic ethereal-industrial sheen.
Course recorded the bulk of A Late Hour in the desert town of Dripping Springs, TX with producer Dan Duszynski (of Subpop group Loma), who's studio is set up among a series of airstream trailers. Bright but with depth, the album offers a collection of elegantly upbeat reflections on life and love - though not without somber moments. It's an album filled with intricate and sweeping stories - literally. At one point while writing lyrics, Robbins found herself stuck, so she devised another way into the songs: She wrote narrative fictional short stories to accompany and elaborate each track. The stories will be released in a Chapbook along with the record.
Track List:
01) Give It All Away
02) Sixteen
03) Crazy Love
04) Nick of Time
05) Darkest Tower
06) The Flame
07)
Lights Low
08) Henry
09) The Lake.
