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The Ojai, California-based songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist and Mapache band member, Sam Blasucci, announces sophomore album Real Life Thing out November 1 via Calico Discos/Innovative Leisure.
The occult-dancer lead single "Witching Hour" pulses with feeling through a high energy chorus built around a beautiful and bold middle section of just percussion and vocals.
On Real Life Thing, shades of Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Bjork peak out behind Sam's new songs as well as the writings of Ariana Reines, John O’Donohue, and Edgar Allen Poe.
Having spent the last 10 years tinkering with his songwriting through his extensive catalog with folk/rock group Mapache, as well as his debut solo album Off My Stars, Sam works alongside co-producer Johnny Payne for his follow up sophomore solo album Real Life Thing. Sam and Johnny take a leap from everything they have done in the past into brand new territory for this collection of songs. Sam connects new dots and bends genres with unheard style and instrumentation on songs like "Death," with words adding to the conversation of gender and sexuality. In addition to new pathways, homage is also paid to Sam’s first loves of music through the notable Motown feel of the existential soul tune "Flower," as well as the vintage pop gleam of "No Magic."
These songs are two examples of the recurring lyrical themes of life and death on this record. “Something clicked before I wrote these songs that put me in a place of wonder and confusion and bliss that I had never experienced before.” Some of the lyrics found on this record have been previously released in Sam’s debut book of poetry "Guidelines For Dying," which quickly sold out of its first print.
While remaining quite elusive to genre or category, a few of Blasucci’s deepest influences can still be spotted throughout the musical and lyrical shape of his new album. New literary and musical discoveries seem to be constant for Sam, but shades of Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Bjork peak out behind this batch of songs as well as the writings of Ariana Reines, John O’Donohue, and Edgar Allen Poe. Sam notes that the many influences around him became heavier and more vibrant after falling extremely ill for two years between 2020 and 2022. “Gaining back my ability to be active, to travel, to live - it was all very much a rebirth in so many ways. Things emerged sharper and clearer from that period of my life”. Sam is healthy and moving forward at a seemingly fast pace with this new album and the accompanying conceptual concert film of the same name.
The film - directed by Sam and produced/shot by Bryce Makela - brings these influences and songs into a literal Real Life Thing through their collaborative visions and physical representations of the album. Filmed at the same studio where the album was recorded - Carbonite Sound in Ojai, CA - the film runs like a type of musical play. The album is performed live with stage hands and different set changes to accentuate each mood throughout the record - certainly Sam’s most ambitious project to date.
Sam was born in Los Angeles in November 1994 and currently lives in Ojai, CA. Having had residence in Los Angeles, CA / Coahuila, MX / Orem, UT & New Orleans, LA - it’s safe to assume Sam will be on the move again soon and with more fresh energy to give of himself through his art. Determined to live by creation, Sam is the type of artist that is always creating something, maintaining a sort of inexhaustible hunger to make his music. Expressing himself through sound has now gone beyond joy and into being second nature and Sam’s real first language.
It’s a curious thing. All the shades of green. Plants. Water. The absolute necessities of life. Music, too, is an absolute necessity. To capture both color and sound in a bottle to put atop a piano like a houseplant. A clock. A fern. Synesthesia. These songs are meant for that. To close your eyes and see green. To drown in the color of piano. Drawing influence from the psyche of Bill Evans’ Rhodes and Koji Kondo’s synthesizers, Shades of Green is a melancholic covey that pulls hard on the heart strings musically and lyrically, brushed over with a plethora of improvisation in smooth watercolors.
Tim Hill's Shades Of Green EP is out now in partnership with Calico Discos.
“...while the group make much of this being a 'new era' there are still plenty of moments that conjure nostalgic, dreamy biss.” - MOJO
"The album brings us back to their sun-kissed California psych sounds once again, but this time with equal twists of clipped electronica and field recordings" - LOUDER THAN WAR
"embraces the pugnacious monotony of late ‘80s Lou Reed ... and reassures that they have not altogether lost interest in sun-splashed psychedelia" - UNCUT
“Surreal” - MXDWN on “Right On Time”
The Los Angeles-based Allah-Las released their new album, Zuma 85 via their own label, Calico Discos, in partnership with Innovative Leisure, which issued earlier defining statements from the band. In 2020, following the release of their album LAHS, the band members stepped away to refocus on their individual lives and interests, leading them to reimagine their creative processes. When they eventually regrouped, they adopted a more flexible approach. Instead of bringing fully finished songs to the studio, they entered the idyllic Panoramic House Studio in Stinson Beach armed with sketches, ideas, and riffs. Working with co-producer Jeremy Harris (White Fence, Devendra Banhart, Ty Segall) they shaped and crafted the new songs in real time over three sessions, which were then mixed in Los Angeles by frequent collaborator Jarvis Taveniere (Woods, Avalanches, Purple Mountains). The end result, Zuma 85, finds the band embracing the influences of late-era Lou Reed and John Cale, the ‘70s mutant pop of Peter Ivers and early Eno and Roxy Music.
In ten days the Allah-Las will kick off their first U.S. tour in support of Zuma 85 with a show in Phoenix, AZ on October 23. The tour also includes a two-night stand with Reverberation Radio at Lodge Room in Los Angeles on November 15 (with Mirror Tree and Kolumbo as support) and November 16 (with Tim Hall and Sam Burton as support), as well as stops in Denver, Dallas, and Seattle before concluding November 18 in San Francisco, CA. Following the U.S. run the band head to Australia in December. All announced shows are listed below and tickets are available here.
Leading to today’s release the Allah-Las teased the album with videos for four of Zuma 85’s singles, “Sky Club,” “Right On Time, The Stuff,” and Dust” and they saw support from Under The Radar, Brooklyn Vegan, Austin Town Hall, Buzzbands LA, MXDWN, The Big Takeover, MOJO and Ghettoblaster, among others. Today the band revealed two additional visuals - “The Fall,” music video which was animated and directed by Mark Neeley and “Jelly,” visualizer which was created with help from Farmer Dave. On his animation for “The Fall” Mark writes, "the video includes a lot of watercolor and fresh ink directly on paper, it's a juxtaposition of abstract and animating some of the song's narrative. I have always admired the careful curation of visual art that accompanies the music of Allah-Las, and I hope my analogue animation adds another dimension to that".
"Shades of Green started off as a simple acoustic tune that was experimented into something more with synths and string arrangements to create a painting of emotion. It’s a song of how loss can change the lives around us, and, despite past failures and shortcomings, be transformative in becoming a stronger person for the ones we love." - Tim Hill
Los Angeles-based Allah-Las are set to unveil their much-anticipated album, Zuma 85, on October 13. Now they reveal a new taste of the album via “Sky Club,” an anthemic and electronic boogie. A decidedly 70s art-rock drum beat and lightly flanged guitars open up in the “Sky Club,” which bounces along casually before blasting off into foreign lands on a ship headed for the beginning of creation. Synthesized intergalactic transmissions fly in and out of the track as we hear the story of the night Allah Las met the great grandfather of humanity.
Zuma 85 is being released via the band’s own label, Calico Discos, in partnership with Innovative Leisure, which released earlier defining statements from the band including the eponymously named Allah-Las (2012) and Worship The Sun (2014). The band has previously shared “Right On Time '' which MXDWN labeled “surreal” and The Stuff” and Austin Town Hall noted, “You can’t deny that the band still have the effortless cool locked in here" and Buzzbands LA said, “They’re calling it a reinvention, and one only needs to hear ‘The Stuff,’ to hear their songwriting engine change gears." The tracks have seen support from Under The Radar, Brooklyn Vegan and Ghettoblaster, among others.
This fall, as Allah-Las tours the UK, Europe, and the US, fans can expect to hear new tracks from Zuma 85 alongside their all-time favorites. The US run kicks off on October 23 in Phoenix, AZ and concludes November 18 in San Francisco, CA with more dates to be announced. They will play at Lodge Room in Los Angeles on November 15 (with Mirror Tree and Kolumbo as support) and November 16 (with Tim Hall and Sam Burton as support). All announced shows are listed below and tickets are available here.
On Zuma 85, Allah-Las embrace the influences of late-era Lou Reed and John Cale, the ‘70s mutant pop of Peter Ivers and early Eno and Roxy Music. The pandemic-included downtime opened up space for the band members to focus on their own lives and interests, and the time to re-envision what creative processes could look like. When it came time to reconvene, a sense of looseness proved pivotal. Instead of bringing finished songs to the studio, they entered the picturesque Panoramic House recording in Stinson Beach with sketches, ideas, and riffs. Working with co-producer Jeremy Harris (White Fence, Devendra Banhart, Ty Segall) they shaped and crafted the new songs in real time over three sessions, which were then mixed in Los Angeles by frequent collaborator Jarvis Taveniere (Woods, Avalanches, Purple Mountains).
For the last 15 years, Allah-Las alchemically melded surf rock washes with folk rock jangle and rock, building up their lauded music podcast, Reverberation Radio, and record label, Calico Discos, in the process. A lot has changed since the group first bonded over psych rock vinyl in the back room at Amoeba Records in the late aughts and Zuma 85 finds the quartet facing a new world with a wealth of new sounds.
Allah-Las are Matthew Correia (drums/vocals), Spencer Dunham (bass, guitar, vocals), Miles Michaud (guitar, organ, vocals), and Pedrum Siadatian (guitar, synth, vocals).