Early August Rain, with its slapbacked, reverb-soaked drum production, is a tender, literate ballad offset with an assertive beat, electronic sound design, and glowing vocal harmonies. Performed and produced solely by Brock Geiger and Will Maclellan (Phoebe Bridgers, Boy Genius) at the iconic Sound City studios in Los Angeles, the song showcases avid multi-instrumental performances and a larger than life production vision that blurs the line between organic, classic balladry and modern three-dimensionality. Lyrically, Early August Rain is inspired by bearing witness to the increasingly omnipresent Canadian forest fire season. It’s an optimistic anthem for a healthier relationship with the natural world, and offers a humble appreciation for the new growth after a blaze.
The forthcoming ten-track LP, Some Nights is a mesmerizing debut. It’s a gloriously widescreen take on pop music, packed full of undeniably catchy songs with uniquely modern production. The album combines Geiger’s penchant for finely-wrought ear-worm melodies with his preternatural ability to sculpt sonically unique edifices for each one of these songs; as such, it is a perfectly distilled introduction to the mind of one of Canada’s most forward-thinking pop auteurs. Some Nights was produced alongside longtime friend and collaborator, Will Maclellan between Sound City (Los Angeles) and at Brock’s Studio B in Calgary, AB. With a long history of creative trust and a mutual openness to exploration, the collection of songs morphed and moulded, and as the insular collaboration process grew, it came to include a heavyweight crew of musicians including Matt Chamberlain, Sam Gendel, and Gabe Noel, as well as some of Geiger’s longest standing collaborators, Clea Anaïs and Kaelen Ohm contributing performances.
The songs unfold like character pieces, each containing their own personality, mood, and decisive sonic statement. As Geiger puts it, “the songs are a representation of the multiplicities of my experiences. I didn’t feel tethered by needing anything to sound a certain way because I wanted the record to be an honest reflection of what I’m interested in.” Glued together by strong pop sensibilities and immersive sonic worlds, the ten songs on Some Nights range from kinetic and groove centric to intimate and ambient while all maintaining a refined focus and grip.
Over the past decade Brock Geiger has been a musical chameleon on the scene, establishing himself as a mainstay in Canada and beyond- as a collaborator on nearly fifty records, and as a touring musician world-wide with a long list of artists. While it is technically so, it’s a bit of a misnomer to call this a debut release from Geiger as his sonic finger prints have made their way onto many records and stages. Brock’s new collection of music shines an overdue spotlight on his refined song-craft, ambitious production, and reveals itself as a wondrous and wholly unfettered presentation of his unique musical outlook.
