Lightheaded shares new single, announces tour dates ahead of debut LP on Slumberland
STREAM: "Moments Notice" -
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Lightheaded are free-ranging students of pop, drawing as much from 60s Brill Building song writers as they do from later 60s folk/pop developments and 80s DIY pop. New single "Moments Notice" is a killer tune, rhythmic and catchy in a way that hearkens back to The Jam & early Comet Gain, spiked with soft-pop DNA that should make fans of folks like the Free Design swoon. Another brilliantly fresh & distinctive example of why Lightheaded are one of the most talked-about indiepop bands in ages.
"'Moments Notice' is a song about social energy, or our lack there of sometimes. The lyrics are all about being ready to leave anywhere in public at the drop of a hat because you’d rather just be home alone with that one person you’d really rather spend your time with." Stephen Stec / Lightheaded
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Lightheaded are, simply, a great pop group. Their songs are full of melody and harmony, are bittersweet and memorable, familiar yet original. Their sound is a perfect mix of jangling guitars -- featuring Sarah Abdlebarry's exquisite, tasteful, but punchy Gretsch lead played over Stephen Stec's Rickenbacker chime -- anchored to singer Cynthia Rickenbach's Hofner Violin bass, which sounds like the bass on Michel Polnareff's first LP.
Cynthia and Stephen write pop songs in the classic sense, and though they are young they're already familiar with the good stuff. Cynthia wears a Gene Clark tee shirt and is a fan of Dusty Springfield, The Aislers Set, and Joan Jett. Stephen worships at the altar of Big Star, The Clientele, and The Go-Betweens. As with bands like The Aislers Set and Belle & Sebastian, you hear an aural kaleidoscope, the history pop music and the best rock and roll, in the music of Lightheaded.
Their debut LP Combustible Gems - is an LP about a band finding their sound, exploring notes, chords, and melody and making uncannily great music along the way. First single "Dawn Hush Lullaby" features an electric folk-pop sensibility that starts like a waltz, but goes into Greenwich Village pop time, like a sweet Norma Tanega tune. "Moments Notice" is a killer tune, rhythmic and catchy. It starts off like Motown or The Jam, but then Sara's hypnotic, hooky guitar riff takes the song some place else, shooting off into soft pop heaven, like kid siblings of the Free Design.
"Hugging Horizons" is the Sound of Young New Jersey. It's soul music, but by experimenting and playing around, they have accidentally invented some sort of New New Pop. "Because of You" ends the album on a real high, featuring Johnny Marr style guitar and some gorgeous strings. It's poignant and sophisticated, but still eager, slightly gauche even. And as always refreshingly, wonderfully, naively sincere.
Combustible Gems is a jump into the sparkling blue water, excited experimentation, exploration, finding themselves, with the effervescence of youth that makes for great debut LPs. It has the youthful urgency of Comet Gain, the wide-eyed nostalgia of early Orange Juice, the suss and anti-macho swagger of those early Pastels singles. It yearns for something, it is an exciting, stumbling, falling, laughing , charming, great pop debut.
-Hoffner Burns, Spring 2024
TOUR DATES
May 24 Somerville, MA - Union Tavern w/Little Oso
May 25 Providence, RI - TBA w/Little Oso
May 26 Brooklyn, NY - TBA w/Little Oso
May 28 Asbury Park, NJ - Johnny & June's w/Little Oso
May 29 Philadelphia, PA - Abyssinia w/Little Oso
May 31 Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel w/Heavenly
June 06 Oakland, CA - Oakland Weekender at Thee Stork Club
June 15 Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool w/The Umbrellas and The Smashing Times
July 19 Brighton, UK - Rossi Bar w/Mt Misery
July 20 Cardiff, UK - TBA w/Mt Misery
July 21 Oxford, UK - TBA w/Mt Misery
July 22 Leeds, UK - Royal Park Cellars w/Mt Misery
July 23 Sheffield, UK - The Delicious Clam w/Mt Misery
July 24 London, UK - The Lexington w/Birdie & Tony Molina
July 25 Manchester, UK - Gulliver's w/Mt Misery
July 26 Glasgow, UK - Glas-Goes Pop! festival
July 28 Glasgow, UK - Monorail w/Mt Misery
Lightheaded
Combustible Gems
(Slumberland)
Street Date: May 17, 2024
Pre-order it HERE
Track Listing:
1 Always Sideways
2 Dawn Hush Lullaby
3 Moments Notice
4 Still Sitting Sunday
5 Bright Happy Girls
6 Hugging Horizons
7 You and Your Mother
8 Because of You
LIGHTHEADED LINKS:
Bandcamp
Instagram
Slumberland Records
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