Kramies opens the first luminous doorway of his forthcoming album, "Hollywood Signs," set for release on October 10. And it feels like a mutedly cinematic welcome back to his own, bizarre and beautiful rotation of sound where reality melts into dreams and every note seems to whisper as a spectral postcard from somewhere both foreign and home sweet home. This track features the soft, Foklore Dreampop lighting that Kramies embodies himself, along with the ethereal atmospheres of dream pop and the storytelling grace of folklore.
The outcome is a whispered coexistence between the myths and shimmering chords, where minor events take on cosmic proportions, and even silence undergoes some sort of intention. Recorded in secrecy with iconic producer Mario McNulty, one of the most revered names in modern rock history, known for his work with David Bowie, "Hollywood Signs" is both intimate and majestic. Kramies played 90% of the instruments, and each guitar shimmer, every subtly walloped percussion hit, and each swell of atmosphere feels perfectly positioned, like brushstrokes on a painting that rewards intimate examination.
The symbolism of "Hollywood Signs" strikes as a thoughtful tribute to an era of decayed splendour and faraway longings. It conveys something of the half-light between ambition and memory, that narrow zone where faith has not yet died, nor history quite ceased. Kramies gently tags you through this open ground of war, seemingly both past and future in his delivery. This single is the first audible hint of what could be a curious and intriguing album. Kramies' songwriting has forever tightened its belt in terms of cinematic quality, but under McNulty's stewardship, it only deepens and broadens, becoming more intricate, more holistic, and still painfully human at its core. "Hollywood Signs" is an environment you walk into, a feeling that sticks around for a long time. "Hollywood Signs" so elegantly begins the release of Kramies' full-length album this October.
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