Strangelight is a post-hardcore band consisting of musicians No Echo readers might recongnize from their work other musical outfits. In terms of their formation, Strangelight's roots can be traced back to the early '00s when guitarist/vocalist Nat Coghlan (Transistor Transistor) met drummer Julia Lancer (The New Trust) while out on tour in California.
While they recorded some demos soon after meeting, it would take another 15 years later before Coghlan and Lancer reconnected in Oakland to form Strangelight along with guitarist Tony Teixeira (Swingin' Utters, Cobra Skulls, Western Addiction) and bassist Ian Miller (Kowloon Walled City, Less Art).
Recorded over the course of three days ar Shark Bite Studios by Kowloon Walled City's Scott Evans during the first week of the COVID-19 lockdown, Adult Themes is Strangelight's forthcoming debut album.
A dark, dissonant, and dynamic affair, the 10-track LP will certainly appeal to a large swath of this site's readership, so check out the track "Walks into a Bar" for a taste of what's to come:
"Music and visual art have always been one and the same to me," Teixeira tells No Echo about the "Walks Into a Bar" music video. "I can’t feel comfortable unless I’m making one or the other.
"I’ve been playing in bands for over 25 years and Strangelight is the first one that actually embraced my visual artwork. I'm grateful for that."
Teixeira continues: "The images I created for Adult Themes are simply what I think the songs look like. I sent my dear videographer friend Eric Stafford the images from the record and the song and gave him fairly simple instructions: 'Make the images and the music come together. Make the viewer/listener want to move. Make the viewer/listener feel something.' This is what he came up with and I couldn’t be happier."
"The album is called Adult Themes because the lyrics deal with the monotonous aspects of life as an adult," says Coghlan. "I don't pretend to have any great insight into the human condition. There are songs about mortgages, there are songs about retirement plans. And since it was all written and recorded before the pandemic, it's kind of a weird snapshot of life as it was, for better or worse."
Adult Themes will be out on October 23rd and can be pre-ordered at this link.
Strangelight on social media: Instagram | Bandcamp
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Tagged: kowloon walled city, strangelight