Breezers is the musical identity and songwriting vehicle of the Los Angeles-based, multidisciplinary artist and songwriter Evan apRoberts. His songs are influenced by the vastness and romanticism of life in the West and much like the walls of apRoberts’s music and art studio in northeast LA, they are brimming with desolate views into a world of gritty and sublime landscapes.
Breezers has been apRoberts’s musical nom de plume since 2016 but he has been active in the LA music scene since the mid-90s. His first solo record, Under the Ghost, released in 2010, was a hit in LA’s underground country/folk scene but apRoberts is more known for the work he has done as a hired gun, supporting different artists on guitar and/or bass and vocals. His career as a touring sideman began in the mid-2000s and apRoberts has worked for some impressive acts along the way including Michael Nau, Pink Mountaintops, Joel Jerome, Little Wings, Kath Bloom, Tall Tales and the Silver Lining, Kings of Convenience, Elisa Randazzo and Port O’Brien, a band M Ward called his “favorite new band” in a 2008 interview with Pitchfork.
Breezers’ new album Hideaway is being released March 8th on Blackbird Record Label / Indie AM Gold. Today Glide is excited to premiere the video for the lead single, “Orion’s Belt,” which opens with a breezy sonic tapestry of Faces-esque mandolins pushing and pulling with apRoberts’s jangly acoustic guitar as an infectious Toussant-style rhythm section of drums, bass, tambourine and snappy electric guitars comes together. Next come the darkly romantic lyrics, sung with apRoberts’s lonesome LA cowboy twang, taking us on a nocturnal journey through the mental and emotional landscapes of a broken-hearted stargazer. The lyrics are sublimely abstract as apRoberts croons about “searching Orion’s Belt for floating glass chariots”, and having drinks with the Sun until “we’ve had our fill of moonlight on windowsills.” Melissa Castellano, apRoberts’s wife and longtime collaborator, sings a powerful close harmony on the choruses backing up apRoberts beautifully as he sings about feeling like a rock floating in outer space observing “the slow starlight spinning” and the psychedelia of experiencing a place where “the curve of the Earth” can be seen and felt. Sweeping layers of spacey slide guitar parts take us into and through the outro, sending the song into orbit as plaintive notes evoke mental images of shooting stars disappearing into the darkness. “Orion’s Belt” showcases the infectious, wayward and real Americana songwriting style and sound of Breezers.
The song is accompanied by a music video written and directed by a true legend of the genre, Steve Hanft. With a career that spans decades, Hanft is definitely a master at work. His resume includes directing videos for artists like Elliot Smith, Luna, Phoenix and The Cure as well as multiple ground-breaking videos for Beck including “Loser”, “Jack-Ass” and “Where It’s At”. The “Orion’s Belt” video takes us on a trippy journey to the desert at night and also an isolated beach, two different landscapes where Evan apRoberts, the primary songwriting force behind Breezers, likes to hideout and soak up inspiration.
Evan apRoberts describes the inspiration behind the song:
“This is another song I wrote over a decade ago. I wrote it as a kind of slow, country waltz and was never sure where it belonged until I was working on material for ‘Hideaway.’ Once I had the idea to take it in a funky country direction, everything just kind of started falling into place!”
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So stoked for this record!
This release moved me to tears. Can’t wait to hear is again and hear the entire set. This guy is super talented and easy to love. From singing to surfing. Love it !