New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Phoenix-based dream-electronic artist FLDPLN presents the 'Escalator' album, loaded with electronic-based dreampop deeply influenced by 80s pop with shoegaze-like textures and an ambient aesthetic, created by layered saxophones and synths.
FLDPLN ("field-plan") is the solo project of Andrew Saks, former frontman of Southern California shoegaze band Sway. A short time after they split, Andrew put down the guitar to return to his first love - the saxophone - which he has played from the age of 12. Largely electronic, FLDPLN concocts dreamy, blissfully textural songs featuring synthesizers, vocals and layered saxophones.
Preceded by initial singles 'Escalator' and 'Aliso', this long-player was written, produced, recorded and mixed by Andrew Saks at his home studio in Phoenix, Arizona. This follows up his 2018 album 'Let You Down' and his 2021 single 'Cashout', release in 2021.
"Escalator is really the result of my years of dabbling in electronic music production combined with my desire to reconnect with my roots, having been a saxophone player for most of my life," says Andrew Saks.
"For this album, I wanted to write songs that are true to the way I hear things in my head, dreamy, blurry, beautiful without compromise and incorporate the horn as a textural instrument as well as another melodic voice."
The idea behind FLDPLN was to incorporate Saks' love for electronic music production and early 90's post-punk sensibilities, while allowing saxophones and synthesizers to be used to fill-in texturally, where guitars have typically been the fundamental building element of the "shoegaze" and "dream pop" sub-genres. Saxophone textures are layered, at times co-mingling with synthesizers to create a soft, warm bed of sound, the perfect backdrop for the whisper-like vocals reminiscent of Andrew's hushed voice with Sway.
At times, Andrew's horn playing features soaring leads that lift the dreamlike and serene to near-anthemic heights while, in other instances, they convey an emotional, whisper-like voice. While certainly nowhere near new to experimental music, the tone and texture of the saxophone in this context effectively lends itself to ethereal lullabies and reflective daydreams.
While textures and sound are an integral component of the music, Andrew does not shy away from hook-laden songwriting. This music is highly influenced by childhood memories of going to bed each night, falling asleep with Walkman headphones on and later waking up in the darkness, in a partial dream-state with the pop songs of the 1980's - Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Bruce Springsteen, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Debbie Gibson,
Human League still whispering in his ears.
- "FLDPLN presents stellar electronica laced with reverie-inspiring textures that beautifully combine. Fluid, relaxing and daydream-provoking, Andrew Saks' foray into the world of electronica is a most welcome one" ~ The Spill Magazine
- "A whole new world of electronic-based dreampop... With a perfect sense of space and symmetry,... a sound unlike pretty much anything else out there on the ambient-pop-gaze music landscape" ~ Big Takeover Magazine
- "Electronic reverie... there is some continuity between the blissful escapism of Saks' previous band Sway and FLDPLN... ecstatic yet chill, and harmonious while offering an unexpectedly welcome fusion" ~ The Record Stache
- "Up up and away in bliss... an artist that definitely should be explored... dreamy, blissfully textural" ~ Amplify
Music Magazine
- "Succulent sonic chill-pill layers combine in reverie, bringing to mind such artists as Slowdive, Bowery Electric, Tycho, South Pacific and Bonobo" ~ Skylight Webzine.
As of July 30, the 'Escalator' LP will be available via the Sillas Famosas label, through online stores such as Apple
Music and streaming platforms like Spotify. The album can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp.
TRACK LIST:
1. Escalator
2. Give You Everything
3. I Want To Talk About Love
4. Building Whisperer
5. Until You Don't Have It Anymore (For Huell)
6. Aliso
7. Lost Her At Sea
8. How Much Do You Remember?
9. Metrocenter
10. So Much Time
11. Maybe This Is How It Ends.
