Monograms, aka Brooklyn based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ian Jacobs, is gearing up for the release of his new album ‘Only a Ceiling Can Stay Inside Forever’, out on PaperCup Music on July 31st, and ahead of it he’s released a new single from it American Dreamz.
Of the album, written in these Covid times and coupled with the social injustices that have been taking place in his home country in particular, Jacobs says:
“Everyone I know just feels really frustrated about the situation. The politics, the sacrifices everyone is making, and the reality has been a very twilight zone-like kind of time for the entire world and the country. The title of the album was a phrase I kept thinking about within that thought process. When is it going to be ok to go outside again? And also how you can’t keep things hidden and locked up forever… these checkered pasts have to get drawn out. These last few months just felt kind of sunreal, a true ‘how did we get here?’ kinda moment. And I think personally, I just needed to do something creative to bob and weave with all these things, so I just started writing some words down and recording some ideas and experimenting. Some songs were more electronic and pulsing through the frustration of the time, and some are more down-tempo and introspective. After a few weeks, it all started to spiral into what felt like a cohesive thought, so it became an album in my mind.”
American Dreamz is this dark, twisting slice of indie / synth-pop, with The dizzying electro effects and scattered percussion breaking into this gritty guitar riffs of the chorus. Bouts of New Order, Depeche Mode and The Cure melt together into something thats gripping.
Check it out, here
