ALBUM PREMIERE: Bells Rang Conjure Moody Darkwave Sound on Self-titled EP

Bells Rang is a California Wave band with a sound that’s perfect for blasting poolside in your survival bunker. A dark humor suffuses the rich beauty of their music; it might make for a good laugh in the face of oblivion.

In November of 2019, Bells Rang released their first single, “Tone Poem”, in anticipation of the release of their eponymous debut EP, which is due out this Friday, February 14th.

Bells Rang features Christopher Drellow on vocals, giant heaps of electronic equipment and guitars, Andrew Livingston on guitars and analog synths, and Damon Magana on bass and bass synths.

The group are now making a name for themselves by performing in historic dives throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Their live show merges the contradictions present within their music. They combine electronics with live instrumentation, live vocals with vocoders. And while the album tracks are tightly packed and intended to reveal meaning slowly, the live songs move dance floors with heavy grooves.

Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive early listen of the new album. With its blend of swelling California vibes, driving psychedelic intensity, romantic desperation and blistering fuzz, the album reveals a band that has manifested a dynamic and intriguing sound. With four songs clocking in at just under 30 minutes, the album begins with the dreamy, Pink Floyd-esque “Tone Poem”. “March” takes a slightly different approach with its sparse instrumentation and vulnerable lyrics about holding onto the feeling of love in the face of complications. The band moves into more of a meditative electronic sound with the richly layered “Speed Queen”, which finds the band adding a vocoder for a vocal effect that brings to mind dark electronic acts like Black Moth Super Rainbow. Of course, the most compelling track is saved for last, with the epic “Knife” coming in at almost 9 minutes as the band embarks on a moody musical adventure that features post-punk rubbery basslines, chiming guitars, and dreamy, darkwave electronic textures. Bells Rang spent months in isolation in cabins and rehearsal studios honing their signature sound before tracking the EP. Christopher recorded, produced, and mixed the four-song EP in his home studio.

Vocalist Christopher Drellow shares his own thoughts on the album:

“I sort of think about this album like a spaceship we launched months ago finally reaching some far away colony. All that time spent writing the songs and polishing the patches, honing the mix, tripping ourselves out on the nuances. And then months of preparation and rehearsal, live shows and promotional work. And now the ship is arriving and the world can hear what we did. If it brings a fraction of the joy to others as we experienced while making it, we’ll be very happy.” 

LISTEN:

Bells Rang is out on February 14th. For more info visit bellsrang.com.

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