Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, songwriter Charlie Phllps has been patiently and artfully honing his craft since his days at SUNY Purchase. The fruits of his labor will soon bear fruit in the form of the Pendulum LP which he recorded with a guitar track, single vocal, and click track approach.
Impose Magazine is happy to bring you the exclusive premiere of the album’s first single, “Memory,” today.
Although it’s genesis may have been stripped back, the final result on “Memory” is a lush, expansive atmosphere that swirls in the mind not unlike it’s thematic content as Phllps explains below.
“When you’re at your lowest point in life, confused and down in a ditch, can you walk out of the fire? Can you find something worthwhile in the lows, and not just the highs. What are we really searching for besides just a memory?
The track was originally recorded as a Police-esque reggae track, we sat on it for a minute and decided to throw it all away. I came back to the studio one night and Phil and Spencer had built the throbbing low end drum track.
Inspired by the late-great New York City blues/rock icon, Chris Whitley, I decided to do the unexpected and put a big steel resonator guitar on the track. We were to borrow a 1929 National Duolian from a guitar shop in the East Village, a guitar that may have even belonged to Whitley at one point, and cut the guitars in my tiny Park Slope kitchen – one of my favorite moments making the record.
I love the rub of this super harmonic, pre-war instrument and these massive trap drums, with super dry vocals on top.”
Stream Charlie Phllps’ “Memory” below and look for it on your preferred streaming service out today. Pendulum is out August 10th with a record release show at Rockwood Music Hall in New York, NY scheduled for the same night (tickets).
