Kamloops-based musician JP Lancaster has been a focal player in the British Columbia city's scene as the frontman of now-defunct psych-popsters At Mission Dolores and owner of local label Factotum CO. He's just announced that his debut solo album, Around Town, will be released on May 28 via Factotum.
The album was written and recorded during the past year, influenced by the ongoing pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. "I had the experience of watching life on my block unfold in greater detail than I ever have before. Songs just presented themselves as things happened," said Lancaster in a statement. "There were even situations where you see a person or event in passing and it leaves you building this elaborate narrative in your head about what you think is going on in their life. While the specific details are unique to what I see around me, I feel like in general this is the shared experience that we all went through this past year."
Lead single "Southern Cross" is a baroque blast of Kevin Morby-style rock that initially alternates between airy woodwinds and Lancaster's husky baritone vocals, before all the elements coalesce into a shimmering finale. The song comes with a trippy, retro lyric video that displays Lancaster's poetry atop psychedelic black-and-white backgrounds.
Watch the "Southern Cross" video below, and keep scrolling for more information on Around Town.
Around Town:
1. West End
2. Televangelist
3. Feeling Strange
4. Around Town
5. Manic Mansion
6. Southern Cross
7. Solemn Hymns
8. Sin Swamp
9. Dusk Came Early
10. Shapes in the Dark
Pre-order Around Town here.
The album was written and recorded during the past year, influenced by the ongoing pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. "I had the experience of watching life on my block unfold in greater detail than I ever have before. Songs just presented themselves as things happened," said Lancaster in a statement. "There were even situations where you see a person or event in passing and it leaves you building this elaborate narrative in your head about what you think is going on in their life. While the specific details are unique to what I see around me, I feel like in general this is the shared experience that we all went through this past year."
Lead single "Southern Cross" is a baroque blast of Kevin Morby-style rock that initially alternates between airy woodwinds and Lancaster's husky baritone vocals, before all the elements coalesce into a shimmering finale. The song comes with a trippy, retro lyric video that displays Lancaster's poetry atop psychedelic black-and-white backgrounds.
Watch the "Southern Cross" video below, and keep scrolling for more information on Around Town.
Around Town:
1. West End
2. Televangelist
3. Feeling Strange
4. Around Town
5. Manic Mansion
6. Southern Cross
7. Solemn Hymns
8. Sin Swamp
9. Dusk Came Early
10. Shapes in the Dark
Pre-order Around Town here.