“Love Collector” is an acid trip, a David Lynch movie, a rabbit hole, an escape room, a convergence of times, a time warp, and a musical expedition conceived during an unimaginable pandemic,” says The Grahams about their latest silvery track.
While it’s not rare for musicians to find influence in the realm of imagination and film, not everyone can simply execute ideas into a full-on realm of artistic relevance that wanders the waters of both the cosmic and the twang.
The musical duo carved out new artistic paths with their third record, Kids Like Us, which was producer-legend Richard Swift’s last project before his death in 2018. With stellar songwriting and bold arrangements, the new record is a love letter to the timeless pop albums Alyssa and Doug grew up with, harkening back to a time when The Ronettes and Diana Ross & The Supremes ruled the airwaves.
The duo has continued their experimental ways on their new EP Sha La LA which was their way of “just letting go” and riding with the hand the’ve been dealt.
“We named the EP, Sha La La because at some point you just have to let go. Let go of disappointment, let go of self pity and judgment, let go of aspirations driven by narcissism, let go of what you thought was real, let go of control, let go of anger and let go of who you thought you were, and embrace who you may become,” says the band.
“When we went into the studio we had fragments and ideas and we just wanted to experiment (which is evident on this EP). We had come to terms with everything going on (the pandemic) and the major life changes we were experiencing so we wanted to let go of structure and our normal methods, just get really high and make art with friends. When you can’t make plans, make art (and a lot of love). We thought “sha La La,” a recurring vocal run on one of the tracks, was a fitting name for just letting go of everything you thought once made sense but doesn’t anymore,” adds the duo.
Glide is premiering the colorful “Love Collector” which shines with a Wall of Sound grandeur that revels in a brass pop lustre that is self-consciously luminiscent. If Japanese Breakfast dialed it in with Jenny Lewis on a weekend recording session, we would indeed have the sparking sound The Grahams produced this go-around. Check out this stunner below..
“Sha la la la la shed your skin because everything you thought you knew about yourself and the world around you no longer exists. Sha la la la la open your eyes to the possibility that reality is not the tangible or the explicable but the illusory and the strange. In some way or another, we all have been forced to discover a new reality. “Love Collector” helped us jump into the abyss and embrace the free fall. As far as influences for this song, I would say weed was the number one influence. Musically we were in a Pink Floyd, Frankie Valli, Sam Cooke “Wonderful World,” The Shirelles “Mama Said,” state of mind. We were just having fun with sounds both vocally and instrumentally to demarcate the end of days. Lol. We also wanted a vocal solo for Mr. G, which is a rarity.”