The Orange Peels
THE ORANGE PEELS | CELEBRATE THE MOMENTS OF YOUR LIFE | MINTY FRESH | MAY 14th, 2021
Bio:
“Birds Are Louder” is the second single from the upcoming double album Celebrate The Moments of Your Life by The Orange Peels. It follows “Thank You,” a song of honest appreciation for the ones who made us who we are. “Birds Are Louder,” on the other hand, is a celebration of the now.
“Nobody’s on the streets … even the birds are louder.”
Much will be written about this time. Historians, journalists, and artists will try to make sense of the time when the world tried to destroy us. But you… you’ll remember it as you experienced it. Seeing stars for the first time since who knows when. Birds seemingly roaring from the trees. Feelings you’ve not felt since you were a child. And the wise words of an old friend ringing in your ears: “Let go of your conscious self.”
This heightened sense of the present is what The Orange Peels (Allen Clapp, Jill Pries, and Gabriel Coan) were experiencing in early March, 2020 while working on the band’s follow up to 2018’s Trespassing.
“It was a bit of an out-of-body experience to be holed up in the studio, creating and living in our own world, while the ‘real world’ was battening down, trying to make sense of what was happening. It was like we were looking in from an entirely different plane of existence,” says band drummer, synthesist, and co-producer, Gabriel Coan.
“I think that perspective, along with the anything-goes approach to these sessions, is what led us to ‘Birds Are Louder,’” says band leader and producer, Allen Clapp. “This song is unlike anything we’ve ever done.”
Maybe that’s another reason the band decided to bring in Oakland duo My Little Hum to help on this track. Dan Jewett—one of Clapp’s childhood friends and earliest musical partners—contributes Chic-style guitar work that would make Johnny Marr jealous, while Yuri Jewett’s vocals add lift and loft to the choruses.
“Thank You,” a song of gratitude, is the first single from the sessions for the upcoming double-album — Celebrate The Moments of Your Life — by The Orange Peels.
“It’s the kind of song you might write if you thought you were dying.”
That’s how singer Allen Clapp described the track to his friends in the late days of 2019. After 15 days of fever, the mantra was on repeat in his head: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sick for a month with pneumonia, and not sure about his chances of recovery, things were looking pretty dodgy.
Then he was hit by the news that his father was not long for this world, and that his mom had a new cancer diagnosis. When it rains...
The early days of 2020 rolled in, and the world was changing. Clapp’s dad lost his battle with cancer. Clapp and his wife Jill (bass) had invited their bandmate Gabriel Coan (drums) out for a recording session to try to bring some joy to the situation. As the three were in the studio, the murmurings of a pandemic started becoming real. It was unavoidable. Schools were closing, new orders were being issued by the hour.
The band brought everything they had to the session. And “Thank You” is first fruits. It could be their “Hey Jude.” It could be their most open-hearted song to date. A song of gratitude for life and love that started in a fever finally took on its full meaning, as well as full musical realization.
The session was supposed to be a “clean-up” session for an album project that was 90% finished. Instead, the band ended up composing an entire new album’s worth of material. Nobody wanted to say it, but finally it became obvious: They were working on a double album expected in spring of 2021.
NEWS:
PRESS QUOTES:
“It’s taking the once-besuited lo-fi pop band — and its followers — out of controlled ‘Meet the Beatles’-esque comfort zones and into a kind of ‘White Album’ wilderness.”
“Immaculate jangle meets harmonic bliss.”
“Allen Clapp believes in the curative powers of pop music the way someone going to Lourdes is betting on a miracle; his faith in the stuff is so strong and compelling pretty much anyone willing to give him a listen is likely to become a convert . ”
“The kind of hit that music critics imagine will be a hit. It’s made of all the stuff that fans of Marshall Crenshaw, the Posies, and Big Star appreciate.”
PRESS RELEASES:
On The Web:
Assets:
The Orange Peels (L-R): Allen Clapp, Jill Pries, Gabriel Coan. Photo Credit: Osmo Clapp. Click for hi-res.
The Orange Peels (counter-clockwise from upper): Allen Clapp, Gabriel Coan, Jill Pries. Photo Credit: Osmo Clapp. Click for hi-res.
The Orange Peels (L-R): Gabriel Coan, Jill Pries, Allen Clapp. Photo Credit: Allen Clapp / Anthony Musiala / Khoi Huynh. Click for hi-res.
“Thank You” single cover art. Click for hi-res.
“Birds Are Louder” single cover art. Click for hi-res.