Today the San Francisco based indie pop duo corner club dropped their EP called in the rearview mirror via Lonely Beach.
A lovely intimate dreamy indie pop music which is cool coming this Asian duo!
About the album by corner club:
in the rearview mirror sonically paints a poignant portrait of life’s highs and lows.
It softly and effortlessly flows between songs that carry a familiar warmth and a raw, inviting openness that command considerable, worthwhile attention.
Created in the midst of a cross-country move, the EP maintains the intimate story-telling and playful ambience of past releases while exploring new directions in genre, intensity, and emotion, showcasing the duo’s evolving sonic identity.
Over seven stirring, cinematic tracks, the pair dive headfirst into the trials and tribulations of their lived experiences, exploring topics like memories from a childhood home long gone, the generational grief of loved ones passing, and reflections on a slow-burning heartbreak. Impressively, two songs were recorded as live takes including “i’ll never say i love you first again” and “the ezra song.” Several friends pitched in to provide flute, bass, and cello on different tracks, and the project was mastered with their remote collaborator Kevin Tuffy in Berlin at Manmade Mastering.
Vocalist Du says the EP allowed them to reflect on their artistic journey and the life changes that fed their newest music.
Du says, “When we think back to where we were the last time we released music–in a different city, in different relationships, and with family having moved on and around–a lot has changed. We tend to write about the feelings that are most biting in the moment, and now that the EP is finished, we’ve found that some of those moments continue to stay with us and some are no longer relatable, hence the title ‘in the rearview mirror.'” The project features more music than they’ve released before at one time, which gave them more space to expand and explore their sound and vision while maintaining their core identity. Du continues, “With a longer project like this one, we had the opportunity to experiment with new styles while hopefully keeping some of our usual atmosphericness and storytelling.”
The EP’s opening track “funny colors” emerged from a dream of a childhood home that is now long gone. Written like a stream of consciousness, the song recalls the memories of dyeing hair in the bathroom and unfolds as if the listener is watching one’s life and memories play out on a flashback highlight reel. Sonically, layers of vocals and synth are punctured by the sounds of scissors, bubbling, and sweeping, with a constant ticking reminding the listener of the passage of time.
Using sounds they found online, the pair were able to channel specific memories and moments in one’s lifetime, from bird sounds signifying a suburban upbringing, to scissors cutting hair representing a change in appearance. On the song’s cinematic, immersive production elements, producer and guitarist Michael Zhang says, “‘funny colors’ is probably the most vivid song for us on the EP. Each section of the song conjures really specific imagery for us, so we really tried to make a sonic movie out of it.”
“when i die” is a playful acoustic tune that imagines all the things the duo will miss when they pass. Vocalist Savannah Du shares of the song’s inspiration, “This song starts with a comment my mom made to me after my grandma passed, at a time when I wasn’t excited to be alive myself: ‘When I die, scatter my ashes, but not too close to the sea ‘cause I can’t swim.’” Making the track over the several months that followed, the song transformed into a personal reminder of the people, places, and experiences that the duo will miss when they’re gone, and has become an appreciation for the little things in life despite the title sounding a little bleak.
in the rearview mirror gets: 📷📷📷📷📷📷📷📷/10.
