Kylee Swenson and her band, Loquat, have been making dream pop music together for over seven years. What began as a true DIY project all those years back has now been fine-tuned and ready for the big time. Their incredibly catchy debut album, It's Yours to Keep, was put together in a tiny sound booth the band crafted themselves. Loquat got some great writeups in DIW magazine, and CMJ along with taking the honor of "Best Pop Group" at the 2003 SF Weekly Music Awards.
After a few years of touring and writing new songs they've got a new album out and while Kylee's voice is as smooth and sultry as ever - the music has gotten darker and richer. Secrets of the Sea will be out in early October and has already gotten people talking. San Francisco's Live 105 named their new song, "Harder Hit" one of the five "hottest tracks of the week". This isn't surprising, as it's one of my favorite tracks off of the album.
The production quality of their second album is noticeably higher than their first - but what really hits me is the mood change. It's Yours to Keep was sweetly nostalgic, filled with both sadness and triumph - one of its songs was even featured on the CW show "One Tree Hill" (if that is any indication). If the last album was the high school kid in you pondering relationships and how to make things work, Secrets of the Sea is the post-collegiate experience.
Highlights of the album:
Harder Hit
Sit Sideways
Clearly Now
I'll be checking out the band and sitting them down for an interview when they head my way next month but make sure you check them out on their current tour.
Oct 12 2008
8:30P
LIVE 105, 105.3 FM acoustic performance
San Francisco, California
Oct 14 2008
12:00A
SECRETS OF THE SEA IS IN STORES!
Everywhere
Oct 16 2008
7:00P
THE CEDAR with Greycoats and Chris Koza (ALL AGES)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Oct 17 2008
9:00P
THE HIDEOUT with Ian Moore and Greycoats
Chicago, Illinois
Oct 18 2008
9:00P
ILLINI UNION COURTYARD CAFE with Light Pollution, Elsinore and Greycoats
Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
Oct 20 2008
9:00P
THE GYPSY HUT with Greycoats
Cincinnati, Ohio
Oct 21 2008
8:00P
ANNABELL’S with Greycoats
Akron, Ohio
Oct 22 2008
9:00P
THE RED AND THE BLACK with Greycoats
Washington, DC, Washington DC
Oct 23 2008
9:00P
THE FIRE with Greycoats
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 24 2008
9:00P
ACE OF CLUBS—CMJ Festival with Scissors for Lefty, LoveLikeFire, Elephone and more
New York, New York
Nov 8 2008
9:00P
BOTTOM OF THE HILL - (BELATED) HOMETOWN CD RELEASE PARTY
SAN FRANCISCO, California