Ex-Mercury Rev singer David Baker has been absent from the world of recorded music since his Shady project released their World LP in 1994, but the infamous frontman will mark his return to our speakers this spring with his new outfit Variety Lights.
The project, which also includes electronic musician Will MacLean, will first offer up a ten-inch single on Record Store Day (April 21). You can stream the mini-platter's skewed synth pop A-side "Silent Too Long" (perhaps a reflection on Baker's sabbatical) down below. The flip will feature a remix of the track by cult legends Silver Apples.
The group will follow the single with a full-length called Central Flow, which Fire Records will issue on June 12.
A press release explains that the bulk of the album was recorded at Baker's Over the Trees studio "using a mixture of chained around-the-room '80s-era MIDI expanders, as well as the duo's collection of vintage keyboards and combining them with an array of drum machines and effected guitars."
To refresh your memory, Baker was a founding member of Mercury Rev, and was featured on their first two records, 1991's Yerself Is Steam and 1993's Boces. After unceremoniously leaving the band in 1993 and wrapping up Shady, Baker took a behind-the-scenes role in the music scene as an engineer.
The project, which also includes electronic musician Will MacLean, will first offer up a ten-inch single on Record Store Day (April 21). You can stream the mini-platter's skewed synth pop A-side "Silent Too Long" (perhaps a reflection on Baker's sabbatical) down below. The flip will feature a remix of the track by cult legends Silver Apples.
The group will follow the single with a full-length called Central Flow, which Fire Records will issue on June 12.
A press release explains that the bulk of the album was recorded at Baker's Over the Trees studio "using a mixture of chained around-the-room '80s-era MIDI expanders, as well as the duo's collection of vintage keyboards and combining them with an array of drum machines and effected guitars."
To refresh your memory, Baker was a founding member of Mercury Rev, and was featured on their first two records, 1991's Yerself Is Steam and 1993's Boces. After unceremoniously leaving the band in 1993 and wrapping up Shady, Baker took a behind-the-scenes role in the music scene as an engineer.
