New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Dallas-based indie rock band, Air Review, are back with a new album, How We Got By, due out June 21, 2019. The Dallas Observer writes, "It's been a while since we last heard from Air Review. In 2013, it was hard for local music fans to avoid the indie-rock crew, thanks to its addictive single "America's Son" receiving frequent airplay on KXT 91.7, in addition to their regular performance schedule. Another tune from Low Wishes, "Young," was also given all sorts of rightfully deserved love from glossy publications and NPR."
Interview says the band "combines wistful, nostalgic folk melodies with catchy electro beats." That wistful nostalgia remains present in the upcoming release, even after the band pressed pause to focus completely on writing this new record. They dedicated themselves to finding a new sound and a new voice over. They learned new instruments, spent countless hours working on ideas together in their rehearsal studio followed by late nights on the back porch discussing ideas and inspiration. They kept at it, but it wasn't quite working. The songs weren't taking the right shape and they gave up on countless demo ideas until life circumstances and loss started to take over.
Now, Air Review shares the first single of the forthcoming album, "People Say Things Change," viaImpose Magazine, who say, "A heartbreaking theme runs through the album, even through the grooves and wall of sound they create feels warm and inviting. The song tells the story of frontman Doug Hale having to give his foster child away. It's every foster parent's nightmare come true, and sonically, it's a modern, very chilled out and semi-electronic track. The juxtaposition of the theme to the vibe show an incredible depth that feels like growth and acceptance."
It was 2016 when frontman, Doug Hale and his family lost their foster child. Soon after, keys player Richard Carpenter's girlfriend's mother died. Later that year, bassist Jeff Taylor's wife lost her father to a very sudden and aggressive brain cancer and guitarist Dragan Jakovljevic and his wife dealt with infertility. The band recognized that their experiences were a very normal part of life on the planet, yet they were heavy burdens to bare.
Through all of it, they never took a break because the writing and the time together became a kind of therapy - it was a place to share the burdens together, to process the feelings and turn them into something meaningful. The band found fresh inspiration from artists like Frank Ocean, Tame Impala, Anderson.Paak and Niki and the Dove.
In early 2017, the band hired Denton, TX based-drummer and producer Matt Pence (Here We Go Magic, Elle King, Sara Jaffe) along with east coast producer Scott Solter (St. Vincent, Spoon) to team up and help Air Review achieve a new sound. Together they produced a 12-track album that takes notes from 80's synth pop, R&B, and classic rock - soaring melodies and good old fashioned guitar solos mixed in with analog synths and auto-tune make for brand new territory for the quartet. The lyrics are direct and raw - taken straight from the band's experiences. Ideas about longing, loss, hope and resilience combine to tell a story of basic human experience. The shared process of crafting the songs was an important part of processing a season of life for Air Review. It truly is what helped them get by. Now, their only goal in releasing these songs is that maybe it will help someone else process whatever life has given or taken away from them.
