Seafoam Walls Debut LP ‘XVI’ Out Friday
Seafoam Walls’ Debut Album XVI Out Fridayvia Thurston Moore’s The Daydream Library Series
Live Show w/ Helado Negro At Miami’s North Beach Bandshell On November 20 “
…the self-produced ‘XVI’, a thrilling sonic collision of Afro-Caribbean groove, shoegaze warble, and jazz harmony.” – SPIN “…deep Thundercat vibing performance” – NPR “Seafoam Walls have a gift for finding the beauty in the vast darkness.” – Afropunk “[On ‘AI’] a winding, multi-phased offering…combining exploratory melodies and hypnotic instrumental grooves…The result is an elliptical trance-like beauty, a transportive dark tropical expedition.” – Under the Radar “[‘Program’]…rides confidently on a chilled-out groove where thick harmonies lay out a mantra-like chant” – BrooklynVegan “[On ‘Program’] enigmatic, high-pitched sounds are accompanied by a brooding guitar melody and a captivating, screechy guitar solo. The choric vocals are the track’s glue, slightly detached but also honeyed.” – FLOOD “Turn this music up and let it melt the speakers. It’s that good.” – Miami New Times 
‘XVI’ Album Art by Jayan BertrandOn Friday, Miami’s Seafoam Walls will release their debut album XVI via The Daydream Library Series, the house record label of Ecstatic Peace Library operated by Eva Prinz & Thurston Moore.
Previous singles “AI,” “Program,” and “Dependency” earned raves from the likes of SPIN, NPR, Afropunk, Under The Radar, BrooklynVegan, FLOOD Magazine, and beyond thanks to their savvy blending of jazz, shoegaze, rock, hip-hop, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms into a wholly new sound, self-described ‘Caribbean Jazzgaze.’ The band is also playing with Helado Negro at Miami’s North Beach Bandshell on November 20. Tickets available here.
The name Seafoam Walls is meant to convey a sort of pseudo-chromotherapy, suggesting a relaxed mood when one is alone with their thoughts in a seafoam green-colored room. But the themes explored on XVI are heavy — self-identity, philosophy, navigating today’s crumbling social constructs — and stem from guitarist/singer Jayan Bertrand’s online interactions and personal experiences, making him question his and others’ humanity. “When I wrote these songs my worldview was crumbling. A new wave of activism and intersectionality was shifting the way I thought and wrote,” he explains. That paradoxical approach is what makes XVI sound like little else that came before.
A collection of songs as ethereal journeys; both the compositions and ideas found throughout explore a myriad of paths that almost never repeat themselves. Seafoam Walls caught the attention of cultish music and art communities around South Florida with a soundtrack befitting of their dark tropical paradise, and have remained a Miami secret since 2016. They released their first EP, R-E-F-L-E-C-T, in 2018 and a follow-up, ROOT, the next year.
eafoam Walls have since taken this sound, unlike any other in Miami, to music festivals like Afropunk’s “Black Spring” and III Points music festival, playing alongside Thundercat, Blood Orange, Tyler, The Creator, and Gorillaz; all influences of the band itself. A year away from the III Points stage led to the recording of their first LP. Just as recording neared completion, a chance encounter and introduction made their debut release on Thurston Moore and Eva Prinz’s The Daydream Library Series a possibility.
XVI Tracklist
1. Sound Check (1:52)
2. You Can’t Have Your Cake And Ego Too (Happy Birthday) (5:37)
3. AI (6:02)
4. Dependency (2:36)
5. You Always Said (5:45)
6. Program (2:51)
7. See (4:14)
8. Rushed Rain (5:49)
Photo Credit: Dennis Ho
‘XVI’ Back Cover by Jayan Bertrand
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