Lowertown showcase a more mature sound with new single "Seaface"—listen
Lowertown are showing their musical growth and maturity ahead of their upcoming EP in the brand-new single “Seaface.” Alternative Press is bringing you a first listen of the track, along with an exclusive Q&A with the group.
“Seaface” follows a similar mellow indie feel as the band’s previously released songs, including the EP’s title track “The Gaping Mouth.” However, this new release marks Lowertown’s progression toward a new level, both lyrically and sonically.
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In “Seaface,” the duo explore their poetic side over satisfying indie-rock instrumentation. They cite Aphex Twin, Modest Mouse, Radiohead, Alex G and Animal Collective as some of their biggest musical influences. The track also shares sonic similarities to their fellow Dirty Hit labelmate beabadoobee.
“It’s our most honest and interesting work to date,” Avsha Weinberg, one-half of Lowertown, says in a press release. “Most of our songs in the past have been sad songs, but this is our most mature work.”
In an exclusive Q&A with AltPress, the band further explained their thinking about the track.
“When writing ‘Seaface,’ we wanted to go for something aggressive, palpable almost, but also with a sense of lightheartedness,” they say. “We wanted to go for instrumentation that moves in feeling and unravels to match the storytelling presentation of the lyrics.”
The Gaping Mouth EP will still feature their signature musings about growing up and becoming young adults. But it will also be a more developed and experimental mixtape, set against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s about looking into that darkness, that scary place,” Olivia Osby says in a press release about the pandemic’s role in the EP’s creation.
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Osby and Weinberg, now both 19-year-olds, first met in math class at their Atlanta-area high school. Bonding over their love of music, the pair later decided to start their own band together. After graduating in 2020, they signed to Dirty Hit and shared their first EP on the label, Honeycomb, Bedbug.
The Gaping Mouth will arrive Sept. 16 via Dirty Hit.
You can listen to “Seaface” and exclusively hear from the band about the track below.
Can you tell us about “Seaface”? What were you going for with the track?
When writing “Seaface,” we wanted to go for something aggressive, palpable almost, but also with a sense of lightheartedness. We wanted to go for instrumentation that moves in feeling and unravels to match the storytelling presentation of the lyrics.
Earlier, you released the lead single and video “The Gaping Mouth” from your upcoming EP. Can you tell us about that song and its coinciding video?
“The Gaping Mouth” set the tone for this project. We wanted to keep our sense of very personal songwriting, but begin injecting our sound with a sense of unease. We wanted to create more depth within our music whilst keeping our lyrics and connection to the audience as personal as possible. This inspiration for the entire project is what led us to the video. We have always believed that a song with a great video makes the musical experience all the more engaging, so we knew that we wanted to have a surreal and eerie visual tone for the project. The characters that appear are strongly inspired by the idea of recognizing something you know but slightly altered in a way that feels unsettling. Playing with the uncanny valley is something that is really exciting to us.
Can you tell us more about The Gaping Mouth EP? What should fans expect from the new project when it drops?
This project is a huge step forward for us. It feels like a much more mature rumination of our emotions and the things that are going on around us. You’ll still get the darker tendencies with the instrumentation and lyrics, but in more depth and on a larger scale. This was our first project done alongside a producer (Catherine Marks) and in a studio, which inspired new writing processes.
COVID_19 brought about major disruptions to touring. Are you thinking about hitting the road now that live music is coming back on the table?
We will definitely be touring next year and playing a few shows in 2021 if stuff looks safe enough with COVID! We’ve been rehearsing with a full band for a while now, so we’re both extremely excited for people to see us play with our new setup. (Before COVID we played with no bassist or drummer).
The Gaping Mouth EP tracklisting:
1. “Clown Car”
2. “Seaface”
3. “The Gaping Mouth”
4. “Burn On My Own”
5. “Debris”
6. “Grass Stains”
7. “Sunburnt”
