New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Detroit indie-pop duo JR JR has released their new single "This Side of Paradise" available on all DSPs today. The single is featured on their upbeat and catchy upcoming EP, August And
Everything Prior due out May 1 via their own label imprint, Love Is EZ Records (a partnership with Secretly Distribution).
"'This Side of Paradise' is about wanting to stay forever in that place that exists between meeting someone for the first time and having your first fallout. And it's also about dancing. Which side of paradise are you?"
August and
Everything Prior arrives as JR JR enters a more prolific era in which they can freely distribute music in a myriad of ways through their own label. Written entirely by Epstein and Zott, August and
Everything Prior is a salute to their roots, a thoughtful but danceable offering that harkens back to the band's early releases. "It's also a revival in my own head of our love of acoustic songs mixed with elements of 1990s hip-hop." Zott explains. "The EP grooves, but it also points to our folk roots."Director Macha Colón continues, "The dancer in the bread dress represents both precariousness and resilience. The bread is need, salary, food, desire, competition, scolding, death, religion, waste and hurt. The idea was to explore all the things bread can be, until it's gone. Because the thing is that, the bread becomes damaged or broken, but it also becomes food for the birds and ants. Where are we in that chain of power?"
Josh Epstein and
Daniel Zott formed JR JR (known then as Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr) in Detroit, Michigan in 2009. Prior to pairing up, the twosome had been searching for a creatively fluid situation where they could pool their talents as songwriters, singers, multi-instrumentalists, and producers. Since joining forces, Epstein and Zott have released four albums, five EPs, and several standalone singles. Select career highlights include a number of memorable appearances on KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic," Conan, and The Late Late Show with
James Corden; performances at major festivals like Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and Lollapalooza; and critical acclaim from a wide variety of outlets such as Stereogum, Rolling Stone, Paste, SPIN, and New York Magazine.There is also a new element present on El Machete: Electronic Production. For the album, Ani worked with Chilean/French electronic music producer
Pablo San Martin.
