Monograms Release New Single ‘For Safety’ || EP ‘Floors And Ceilings’ Out 18th June
MONOGRAMS
NYC ARTIST RETURNS WITH NEW CUT:
“FOR SAFETY”
LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD NOW HERE
TAKEN FROM UPCOMING EP:
‘FLOORS AND CEILINGS’
OUT 18 JUNE 2021, VIA PAPERCUP MUSIC
“a hazy, corroded take on pop… dark and catchy” – STEREOGUM
Monograms
Streaming on all platforms from this Friday (4 June) via PaperCup Music, you can listen to the track on Soundcloud from today here:
LISTEN HERE
Scouring the skies for silver linings from the darkness of a nuclear winter, “For Safety” is a track that muses on our warped perceptions of positivity whilst the doomsday clock ticks silently on.
“For Safety started a chapter that gave a glimpse of a hopeful, yet ironic and strange future where things are starting to wake up, but have morphed into all these odd new normals… But, you’d have to be a world champion optimist to ignore that it’s been a pretty dark world out there.” jokes Monograms. “A lifetime’s worth of issues slingshot to earth in a single year. Pandemics, insurrection, the reality of social injustice, and on and on.”
A canvas of distorted darkwave synths pierced by flashes of 80s post-punk, “For Safety” is at once familiar, but alien; a new-normal expressed in sound. “We’ll be waking up this time I’m sure…”, sings Jacobs wearily, the vocals thinly masking mixed feelings and a deeper sense of paranoia for what may lie around the corner.
“As things open back up and tensions have settled, I can’t help but notice that the world (or at least my world) feels pretty damn different than the last time I inhabited it.” says Monograms. “A lot has changed for me, much like everyone else probably. Things won’t be that same, the once distant future is still pretty fuzzy and out of focus… but comparatively, I’m ok with this bottled optimism for now.”
Written over the previous lockdown, the track is taken from an upcoming EP, ‘Floors And Ceilings’ confirmed for release on 18th June 2021. 7 tracks of his definitive “Nuke Wave” incarnations, its lyrics find an artist consumed with a world slowly sliding towards inevitable apocalypse. “Sometimes I have moments where I’m out and I look around and I can’t believe what the world looks like or how the future still feels pretty uncertain. It can be unsettling…” reflects Monograms. “Writing the EP shaped up to be almost diary-like, watching and writing stuff as it was happening in real time.”
As with his full-length album of last year ‘Only A Ceiling Can Stay Inside Forever’, the original material for this EP was written, recorded and produced entirely by Monograms at his home studio in Brooklyn. The EP will feature an array of explorative new material, including the incisive Capitol Riots-inspired electroclash of “Speak And Spell”, the mutant americana of “Overflowing” and foreboding darkwave of new single “For Safety”. Elsewhere there’s remixes by a host of friends and collaborators from the Brooklyn scene including Hiko Men, Dante Fiero and Hexadiode; plus a maverick re-interpretation of Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer”.
Monograms is the alias of NYC-based solo artist Ian Jacobs. Repurposing the faded sounds of 1980s lo-fi and the broken remnants of Brooklyn dream-pop; Monograms constructs a palette of post-apocalyptic soundscapes and warped atmospherics into his distinct ‘Nuke Wave’ sound. Since the project’s conception, Monograms has supported Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Ezra Furman, Sunflower Bean, Man or Astro-Man?, A Place To Bury Strangers, Juan Waters, Girl Band and more. That trajectory coupled with U.S. tours and a solid array of streams and words from valued outlets such as Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, the 405, Culture Collide, Alt Citizen, Earmilk and Adhoc has also led Monograms’ music to be used in film and television (Shameless, SXSW Film Festival and more).
The music of Monograms communicates a number of different notes with velocity, from post-punk to gritty pop and electronica, all within a clear postmodern approach. These angles often point Monograms’ sonic coding at other genre-defying artists from the heyday of college radio, as well as contemporary vibes that push and pull from different styles seamlessly, all within the same thread. Monograms is Brooklyn’s Nuke Wave.
MONOGRAMS – RELEASES NEW EP: ‘FLOORS AND CEILINGS’
– OUT 18 JUNE 2021, VIA PAPERCUP MUSIC
LISTEN TO NEW SINGLE: “FOR SAFETY” HERE
RELEASED ON ALL STREAMING SERVICES – 4 JUNE
FOR MORE INFORMATION