Courtesy Jo Babb
Audio By Carbonatix
With Halloween approaching, Colorado artists put out a scary amount of new music in October. As always, we’ve got you covered with an array of top picks. Dive in…if you dare.
Burning Sister
Get Your Head Right
Denver psych-rock group Burning Sister kicked off the month with a dose of its now-trademark “downer rock,” releasing a new EP, Get Your Head Right, on October 4. The fuzzy trio of Steve (bass, synth and vocals), Nathan (guitars) and Alison (drums) – the band prefers first names only – mixes the best of ’70s acid rock and the ’90s desert variety to conjure a mellowed-out blend of doom and grunge. Get Your Head Right showcases that on such songs as “Barbiturate Lizard” and “Looking Through Me.” There’s also a cover of Mudhoney‘s “When Tomorrow Hits” for good measure.
Spiritual Poison
“Place of Peace”
Local musician and producer Ethan Lee McCarthy is known for his varied pursuits and projects, including fronting noise-doom pioneers Primitive Man. He shared a sneak peek at his new drone project, Spiritual Poison, on October 4 with the single “Place of Peace,” from his upcoming debut, Incorporeal, which comes out November 17 via Closed Casket Activities. “I wanted it to sound like a long journey through an otherworldly doorway,” McCarthy says of the eerie, ambient song. “I think of spirituality a lot, so some of those ideas are present. Musically, there was so much emphasis on different instruments and trying things outside of the typical worlds of metal and noise.”
Wood Belly
“Alamosa Rain”
Colorado-born bluegrass and Americana quintet Wood Belly turned a terrible road trip to a gig in the San Luis Valley into a beautiful song on its latest single, “Alamosa Rain,” which was released on October 6 and provides a glimpse of the band’s upcoming album, Cicada (out November 17 via Americana Vibes). Guitarist Chris Weist recalls: “The transmission had essentially died upon entering the valley, and my partner and I got stuck overnight, only to wake up to an overcast valley near Alamosa. The next day was a twelve-hour day limping the car home to Fort Collins, which was sure to be her last voyage.” With Dylan French (drums) and Brennan Mackey (bass and vocals) recently joining Weist, Chris Zink (dobro and lap steel guitar) and Aaron McCloskey (banjo and guitar), “Alamosa Rain” encapsulates the band’s new direction and rebirth.
Barbara
“Currents”
Barbara’s Bridget Hartman (bass), Anna Panella (drums and vocals) and Camilla Vaitaitis (guitar and vocals) dropped their new single, “Currents,” with a music video on October 6. The local indie-rock trio is known for its steady flow of lo-fi alt-rock, which the “Currents” video visually captures. The song “explores the feeling of peaceful acceptance of the ever-changing and unpredictable nature of life,” Vaitaitis shares. “This dreamy song energetically captures the simultaneous power and serenity of a river. The video, all shot in stop-motion, takes the viewer through a surreal and obscure journey.”
GRiZ
Ouroboros
In June, Denver DJ and producer GRiZ announced that he’d be taking an indefinite hiatus from music and performing after releasing album Ouroboros on October 6. “Life is really good, and often I make myself too busy to see just where I am and how far this project has come,” he wrote at the time. “I’m following my gut instincts so for now, I’m not going to put a hard time limit length on my break.” Since then, GRiZ has treated fans to ID Bible (1), a bundle of free edits, remixes and live flips. Ouroboros is his final gift to his loyal following, complete with a sincere farewell on “t a k e c a r e.” At just over twenty minutes, the record is an eight-track collection of GRiZ’s groovy rhythms, uplifting melodies and iconic saxophone solos.
Creek
“Moving On”
A Friday the 13th in October is pretty emo, so naturally the melancholy shoegazers of Denver group Creek believed it would be the perfect day to release new single “Moving On” – a somber three-minute-plus tune about experiencing heartbreak amid all the dead leaves and barren trees. The song will be part of the three-track Past Lives, set for release on October 27. Since 2016, the trio – which comprises Jared Barnes (guitar and vocals), Danny Henderson (guitar) and Dan Carlson (drums) – has consistently released clusters of moody, reverb-heavy music. And “Moving On” is no different.
Hallie Spoor
Heart Like Thunder
Indie folk singer Hallie Spoor may have made a name for herself in Brooklyn, but her Colorado upbringing, filled with wading in icy lakes and bushwhacking through willows, inspired her sound and overall direction. Her style has been compared to that of Laura Nyro and Joni Mitchell, and Spoor’s new seven-track EP, Heart Like Thunder, which released October 17, is in the same vein, with such songs as “Shenandoah” and “Diamond Ring.” Spoor says the record “tells the painful truth that when things get difficult, sometimes it’s easier to slip away than try. Yet, ironically, writing and recording Heart Like Thunder allowed me to do just the opposite: to live authentically, to rewrite my stories in their purest, truest versions.”
Mersiv
Out of Bounds
Anderson Benoit Gallegos, the Denver DJ and producer behind solo act Mersiv, has continued to make a name for himself since the release of his 2019 debut, Digital Eden. On his sophomore followup, Out of Bounds, which was released October 20, Mersiv succeeds in breaking away from genre conventions and showcases a more assertive take on bass music. Although it’s grounded in heavy bass lines and compelling rhythms, the album is a diverse tapestry of styles that includes elements of hip-hop and pop.
Culture Bloom
Aren’t You Proud?
Culture Bloom might be new, but Jared Bakst and Jared Barnes (yep, the same one from Creek) have quickly asserted themselves as a strong up-and-coming indie act with a string of singles and a debut EP, Aren’t You Proud?, which the Denver duo produced and released independently. Recorded at Swadley Studios, which Barnes owns, the five-song release is the perfect sampling of Culture Bloom’s nostalgia-inducing indie rock full of acoustic guitar and hushed loudness. Check out “Waiting Room” and “Nightmare” to get a feel for what the Jareds are doing.
Deth Rali
“Genesis”
Denver dream-pop outfit Deth Rali dropped a twofer this month, sharing a new music video for the recently released “Ruby’s Castle Island” on October 10 and the single “Genesis” on October 27. “The video tells the story of a little girl who, in order to escape her bedtime, escapes into the world of her favorite movie, Ruby’s Castle Island, and becomes her hero, Ruby,” vocalist and keyboardist Jay Maike explains. “It was filmed with my seven-year-old daughter, Jette, and is the title track for an upcoming concept album that expands the world of Ruby’s Castle Island.”
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