Next month, Kyle Bates, the Portland musician who records woozy and bummed-out indie rock under the name Drowse, will release the new album Wane Into It. We’ve already posted the early track “Untrue In Headphones,” which Bates recorded with the likeminded Denver musician Madeline Johnston, better known as Midwife. Today, Bates has shared another song.
“Mystery Pt. 2” does not seem to be a sequel to the Turnstile song “Mystery,” though that would be interesting. Instead, it’s got Bates singing in a desiccated mutter over acoustic-guitar strums and distorted drum machines. There are heavy Microphones vibes on this one. In a press release, Bates says:
Change and apprehension. Allowing negative segments of the past to scatter as ashes in the air. How much space is too much space for the self-isolationist? “Mystery Pt. 2” re-examines themes from my previous album, Light Mirror. A sequel? It’s one of the most direct songs I’ve ever written, though listen closely and you’ll hear field recorded snippets of my life, organs, Moog synthesizer, Mellotron, distant sheets of metal vibrating, hidden voices—always a world beneath a world.
Check it out below.
Wane Into It is out 11/11 on the Flenser.