LA based punks have announced a reimagined and alternative version of their original 2020 release.
Spanish Love Songs will drop their deluxe version of Brave Faces Etc on 15 April 2022.
“Right before the first anniversary of the album, we decided we wanted to revisit the songs the same way we had been reimagining our previous albums on our Patreon community.” says singer Dylan Slocum. “I don’t know that any of us has ever been happy with a finished album we’ve released.
“This was our chance to try out some of the things we didn’t get to do on the original, whether due to budget, running out of time, etc. At the same time, we saw it as a chance to challenge ourselves a bit musically and expand the sound of the band to better reflect where we’re all at in terms of songwriting and production.”
The band spent months reimagining and re-tracking the entire album from the ground up while working completely remotely in 3 different home studios in 3 time zones. That beautiful chaos has spawned something rather special and grown the band in new ways, highlighting the same detail-rich storytelling of Bruce Springsteen, The Menzingers and Manchester Orchestra.
Optimism always stood out as one with a slightly different vibe on the original album. We tried to keep that energy going on the reimagined version. We took the jangly 90s rock beat and turned it into a real downer of a dance song. This meant we got to play all the drum machines and synths we always wanted to use. I love that the bridge here is somehow more chaotic than the original and really carries across the anxiety of the song while somehow managing to keep the dance vibe.” Says Slocum.
The songs on Brave Faces Etc. are character stories set in small-town America and anxious urban jungles alike. Heartbreaking tales of addiction, depression, debt and death juxtaposed alongside looming societal issues like mass shootings, the opioid epidemic and climate change. They’re all at once personal vignettes and universal truths of life in the 2010s; the lines blurred between Slocum’s own experiences and those of his friends and acquaintances. It seeks to find a balance between realism and optimism.
Spanish Love Songs will be touring the US, supporting The Wonder Years throughout February and March.
Brave Faces Etc is available from 15 April and can be pre-ordered now.
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