Nova Albion

Nova Albion
The members of Music For Animals are back with a new band!

Wild Cub
Youth is a collection of captured moments... like moving photographs: late night drives, the limitless feeling of falling in love, the freedom of finding a true friend and co-conspirator in an immense world, the cool ocean meeting your toes on a hot summer's day. A simmering mix of bass, synths, drums, and frontman Keegan DeWitt's low and soft, yet urgent vocals, lead track "Shapeless" sets the evocative and cinematic… Show more tone that permeates the album. The taut dreaminess of "Straight No Turns" and "Hidden In The Night" evolve into sensuous, dancefloor-ready electro-pop, while "Jonti" – with its soaring, cathartic chorus "I see it now, it's brighter when the lights are out" – and "Wild Light" – all quirky, staccato organ and lyrical guitar-led charm – are playful art pop sing-alongs. The rich, melancholic soundscape of "Drive" highlights Youth's moody romantic atmosphere. Produced in collaboration with musician (Tallest Trees) and photographer Dabney Morris, and mixed with Ephraim Nagler (You Are Plural, The Velvet Teen), the album combines live takes and programmed sounds, and was recorded digitally before the files were run through a TASCAM 4-track tape recorder, often used for intimate home demos.

Wild Cub is centered on film composer (Cold Weather, Dance Party USA) and singer/songwriter (2009's LP Islands, 2010's Nothing Shows EP and Two Hearts/Reluctance 7") DeWitt, and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Bullock (Pico vs. Island Trees, Jessie Baylin, Madi Diaz). They toured most of 2011 under DeWitt's name, who'd gotten good press attention from AOL Music's Spinner, FilterMagazine.com, My Old Kentucky Blog, Paste ('Best New Solo Artists of 2010'), Popmatters, and Vogue.com, among others: hitting SXSW, New York Fashion Week (for designer Billy Reid), and the CMJ Music Marathon; and touring with Jeremy Messersmith and on the 4th Daytrotter Barnstormer tour alongside artists including Sondre Lerche and Guards, among other shows. Wild Cub was officially born upon returning home last fall, and Youth was written and recorded over two months in Bullock's house, which was turned into a multi-room studio.

After already catching the eye and ear of their hometown press (Nashville Cream has praised Wild Cub's "intricate melodic pop": "…don't ask how, but the Chris Martin-meets-'Bastards of Young' melody on the first of three new songs hit that elusive sweet spot of melody plus sing-along that every pop-based band should aim for"), the band is now beginning to catch attention from national press including American Songwriter, Paste, and RCRD LBL ("Straight No Turns" song premiere), and also performed at Bonnaroo in June.

Escondido
Escondido is Nashville, TN based artists Jessica Maros and Tyler James. Recorded live in a single day, their 10-song debut album is due out Feb. 2013. Their sound is a washed out desert landscape steeped in American roots music. “We wanted it to be like Clint Eastwood playing pop songs at one of the honky-tonks downtown,” James mused. “But we’ve been told it sounds like desert sex.”

The pair met while James was recording their mutual friend at his home studio. “Jess was quietly strumming this song Rodeo Queen on the couch while everyone else was making drinks in the kitchen. I pushed record and added a little groove before folks got back in the room. Later that night we listened to it and both said ‘You wanna make a record?’” They spent the next two months crafting the songs and bonding over a shared love of spaghetti westerns and 70’s music. “We’d put on Ennio Morricone every morning,” says Maros. “It’s an easy process when you both love the same stuff.”

The two gathered some musician friends and cut the record on October 18, 2011 at The Casino Studio in Nashville. “We wanted to capture that initial instinct,” says James. “The talent in this town allows you to set up in one room and let ‘em do their thing.” Musicians Evan Hutchings (drums) and Adam Keafer (bass) give the backbeat to Scotty Murray’s washed out western-style electric guitar. Maros’ seductive vocals bring to mind Mazzy Star as they float atop James’ sparse guitar, trumpet, and keyboard work.

Escondido’s songs range from the Tom Petty/Fleetwood Mac influenced pop numbers Cold October and Bad Without You, to the lovelorn country ballads Special Enough and Willow Tree. “The record was an outlet for me,” says Maros. “Each song brings back where I was, what I drank when I was writing them. It was a dark time and this album got me through it.” The band’s heavy sentiment is balanced out by the playful twang of songs like Don’t Love Me Too Much and the Keep Walkin'. “Music helps us forget the very conflict it grows out of,” says James. “But my favorite songs embrace that dissonance.”

The album marks a new chapter for both members. Maros, a Vancouver, British Columbia native, found success as a clothing designer after initially moving to Nashville with a record deal. Her jewelry has been worn by the likes of Prince and Lady Antebellum, her handmade dresses gracing the red carpet at the Oscars and Country Music Awards. James, a small-town Iowa native, has spent the last decade on the road as a solo artist and member of Los Angeles based Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. “We both wanted a change of pace,” says Maros. “I wanted to focus on music again and Tyler wanted to spend more time in town making records.” The result is the formation of Escondido, a band whose songs are a tale of love lost across the western sky.

Aaron Axelsen
Live 105 Music Director, DJ, host radio shows Soundcheck & Subsonic, throw parties at Popscene & Leisure San Francisco.

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