Atmospheric rock collective SOM – comprised of current and former members of Constants, Junius, and recent Grammy nominees Caspian – have signed to Pelagic Records. The band will release its new six-track EP, Awake, next month.
Comments the band, “We’re stoked to be working with Pelagic for this release. We’ve been friends with and have toured with Pelagic bands for many years, so it just feels like a big family. They do beautiful things with vinyl, so we know this is going to look awesome.”
Adds Pelagic Records head Robin Staps, “Please excuse the short notice of our involvement, but SOM have written and recorded two amazing tracks here that have simply blown us all away. Blissfully heavy and immensely listenable in equal measure, the Awake EP has been on heavy rotation at the Pelagic warehouse. We’re excited to release it on vinyl and CD, and to offer our vinyl subscription holders an extra gem.”
Combining two exclusive originals with remixes by beloved collaborators Holy Fawn, Hisself (Johnny Dang of O’Brother), U Dye (Marshall Gallagher of Teenage Wrist), and Giuseppe Capolupo (The Devil Wears Prada), Awake is a triumph of self-described “heavy dream pop.” Its concise compositions balance the gritty riffs of Deftones with airy, Tame Impala-esque vocal lines, just as primed for rock radio success as they are for shoegaze-loving connoisseurs. “Our past projects were very exploratory,” explains drummer Duncan Rich. “With SOM, it’s a lot more focused. Creating in a pandemic has imposed limits – it’s a test of working within boundaries. How do we make something expansive, yet digestible and impactful?” The tracks are part of SOM’s ongoing mission to “leave this place better than we found it.”
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Awake will be released independently on limited-edition cassette and digitally via Nuclear Blast’s digital subsidiary, Blood Blast Distribution on March 5th. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION. CD and vinyl editions of Awake will be released by Pelagic Records March 12th with preorders now available at THIS LOCATION.
SOM was founded by Duncan Rich, frontman and former Constants colleague Will Benoit, and Adai founder and now-Caspian drummer Justin Forrest. While touring in support of their debut full-length The Fall in 2019, the band added guitarists Mike Repasch-Nieves and Joel M. Reynolds, both formerly of Junius and Driftoff. “We’ve always been a musical family,” notes Rich.
“Will and I started a label, Radar Recordings, in Boston during the early 2000s, which was an amazing time and place for music,” says Repasch-Nieves. “It was very much a collective of like-minded artists, which grew as we all toured around the world together in the years to follow.” The alluring Awake is far from the five longtime friends’ only endeavor to create a better world around them. Despite being recorded in quarantine, the EP was mixed by Benoit at his own Radar Studio in Connecticut – New England’s first solar-powered recording facility. Repasch-Nieves and Reynolds, meanwhile, spent 2020 sustaining an urban farm in New York City, while Forrest distributed vegan food to Black Lives Matter activists in Denver through the Summer. Equally philanthropic is Rich, who now uses his production experience to host emotional fluency events for men. While many musicians lumbered in inactivity, SOM used the darkness of recent times to create and heal. Awake’s bliss is an insight not only into the kind of harmony the quintet seeks to cultivate in all facets of life, but also the exciting second full-length that looms on the horizon.
“…thick and hazy but with soaring vocal harmonies that add a lightness to the song.” – BrooklynVegan on “Awake // Sedate”
“SOM play the kind of somber, glimmering music that exudes a heavy fog of emotion and introspection around it.” – Kerrang!
“Perfect for laying in a pile of leaves while quietly pondering everywhere you went wrong in life.” – MetalSucks
SOM:
Will Benoit – vocals, guitars
Justin Forrest – bass
Mike Repasch-Nieves – guitars
Joel M. Reynolds – guitars
Duncan Rich – drums
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