The Asteroid No. 4 is set to drop their new album titled ‘Northern Songs’ tomorrow. Ahead of that, we get a glimpse of greatness with what I feel could be a subtle definitive album for #Indie in 2020.
The Asteroid No. 4 is a band that long ago found its sound and is constantly molding it with each release. That unique blend of acid rock, jam-band, psychedelia, and originality, The Asteroid No. 4 conquers the creative demons that a lot of bands in this modern era battle with and shine through with a collection of tracks that will make you want to pick up an instrument and join in.
As of September 18, the ‘Northern Songs’ LP will be available digitally online, including via Apple Music, Spotify, and directly from the band via Bandcamp and their own website.
About The Asteroid No.4
Psychedelic rock/power pop legends The Asteroid No.4 will release their new album ‘Northern Songs’ LP on September 18. This much-anticipated collection of tracks will be released through a partnership with UK-based Cardinal Fuzz Records and Portland’s Little Cloud Records.
Stalwarts of the modern ‘psych’ genre, they are known for their prolific discography of reverb-drenched recordings and liquid-projected live performances. With a sound all their own and neo-psychedelic / shoegaze learnings, they are often compared to acts like Spacemen 3 and Paisley Underground kingpins The Rain Parade.
This new track comes on the trail of singles‘Swiss Mountain Myth’. ‘The After Glow’ and ‘Northern Song’.
Now based in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Asteroid No.4 originated in Philadelphia in the latter half of the 1990s and gradually began to relocate westwards in 2011. After several lineup changes, for the last decade, the band has been foundationally comprised of Scott Vitt (vocals, guitar), Eric Harms (guitar), Adam Weaver (drums, vocals) and Matty Rhodes (bass, vocals).
‘Northern Songs’ is the band’s tenth full length record, following up the ‘Collide’ LP in 2018. Here, the 12-string folk-rock jangle of the mid-60’s Byrds is overlaid with the washed-out vocal harmonies of Ride and topped off with psychedelic drones familiar to Spacemen 3. This is a hypnotic hybrid of several different genres filtered through the kaleidoscope of all things psychedelic.
On this new album, they did all writing, playing, recording, mixing and mastering in their own studio. This is the first time they’ve gone fully DIY since their fourth album ‘An Amazing Dream’(2006), where the band finally found their own trademark sound.
“This is a first for us as we’ve always had at least guest musicians or someone else mix or master. It was an experiment on what we could do ourselves and testing our new studio in San Rafael, CA for the first time. Our sound is primarily rooted in the British indie music from the 80s and 90s. This is the music we grew up on, we still listen to today, and what happens as a natural result of our songwriting,” says Scott Vitt.
“Lyrically there’s reference to what is happening both socially and politically in the world around us. We wanted to make an album that brought an air of calm or even nostalgia, to remind people that there was a time, not all that long ago, when things seemed way more normal compared to what we’re experiencing today.”
A dynamic live act, The Asteroid No.4 integrate multi-textured guitars and reverb-drenched vocal harmonies over an unwavering rhythm section. Their prolific output has earned them a dedicated fan base within the flourishing underground psychedelic scene, with over a dozen compilation appearances, digital-only rarity releases, and multiple singles and EPs.
Named after Vesta, the brightest asteroid in our solar system, their moniker is an obvious nod to Spacemen 3, one of the band’s main influences. In fact, one of the group’s earliest recordings was a faithful cover of their ‘Losing Touch with My Mind‘. Released via UK label Rocket Girl’s tribute compilation to the 80’s legends, Pete ‘Sonic Boom’ Kember himself named the song as a stand-out track in an interview with Magnet Magazine.
LINKS:
https://theasteroidno4.com
https://www.facebook.com/theasteroidno4
https://theasteroidno4.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/theasteroidno4
https://twitter.com/theasteroid4
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Sz2gqTwJDGHcFFb0WiDVb?si=rSwNKPMATRefrpbu80AmDg
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-asteroid-no-4/1391476929
