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Label: Warner Records
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Two years ago, Kane met Malcolm and that was it.
Kane Ritchotte--an admired drummer in Los Angeles (once of Portugal.The Man), and an accomplished multi-instrumentalist—was in the process of preparing his first album as a solo artist when a chance encounter with a newly transplanted Alabamian, Malcolm McRae, derailed his plans. Malcolm had only recently fallen in love with a young woman and followed his heart, foolishly, dropping everything to move to Los Angeles.
Well, his heart was mistaken. The relationship was a disaster. But the music that followed wasn’t.
Within a week of meeting, the two realized that the music they made together transcended what either was doing alone. And they shared the conviction that music could be at once ambitious and speak to a large audience. So, they set out to prove that very thing.
Camping out at the legendary Sound City Studios with their producer Tony Berg, they carefully crafted a sonic vocabulary to articulate their shared vision. It had to rock, but not rawk. It had to be smart, but not smart-ass. Most of all, it had to express a point of view; musically and lyrically. This triumvirate of Ritchotte, McRae, and Berg made the album in a wonderfully liberating vacuum; one with no pressure, no deadline, and no interference. Instruments were passed like joints. Each song became an atlas.
What emerged in the process were two distinct styles and philosophies; Kane, very studio-savvy, was able to express himself by merely picking up an instrument. His fluency on all the instruments lent a wonderful capacity to hear a song in several styles before one was agreed upon. Malcolm—with a pure artist’s unconscious approach, brought something more visceral. The combination was to bring us something…more.
As we find in all the best bands, a wonderful competitiveness has evolved between McRae and Ritchotte. Each is determined to outdo the other with every new composition. The two more EPs play like ten rounds of a heavyweight fight; and we’re the ones knocked out.
A thumbnail look at the songs:
“Settled In” jumps right in and tells us of a relationship headed due south. “I shook hands with the other man…”. Ouch! What starts as a screed devolves into self-flagellation by our narrator. This romance stinks…but boy, does it sound good! Swirling voices, distorted baritone guitars, the holy ghost of Carl Wilson…they’re all there.
Kane lets us know right away of his Faustian pact in “God Is In The Details”. Leonard Cohen and John Lennon loom literally and figuratively in this rumination on the vagaries of a public life.
