Covers can be tricky. They can place both large burdens of expectations on the artist, the listener, and the tired ears of the music intelligentsia at large. Yet there are some that utilize the covering tribute art as a way to provide chronological streams and systems of relevances that trace origins to new beginnings, while hinting at the sounds of things to come. Consider Blacksburg, Virginia by LA duo Melissa Smith and Mark Arciaga of Outlands, who premiere their cover of Toni Braxton's “You're Makin' Me High” that treats the original like an opened mid-90s time capsule that provides meanings built out of distinctions of time, place and analogous technologies. Taken off their forthcoming album Love Is As Cold as Death slated for Spring 2014 for LebensStrasse Records; Outlands show us what the sound assemblage of 1996 means for today's evolutions, and maybe even for the future sound of 2016.
Fairlights shine and sparkle in the distance, as subway sonic synth rushes create a necessary dissonance-distance of space and time. Instead of utilizing the cover as a stab at a standard or a litmus course of courage, or any of the associated star studded attention; Outlands are more interested in dabbling here with time markers. These indicators point to the 90s various technological achievements in audio, from the 808s, 80s inventions turned house music party favorites, and of course anything off of Toni's Babyface co-produced album Secrets from 1996. Melissa keeps the sultry vocal cues intact while the synthesized light shines from the keyboards to spell out the advancements the world has yet to hear.
Mike and Melissa of Outlands recently fielded our questions about recording their upcoming album and covering Toni Braxton.
What have been some of the recording ethics and disciplines that you both employed for composing and writing for your upcoming Love Is As Cold as Death?
We really approached the album as a way to make a break from lo-fi and challenge ourselves with production and songwriting. There are a lot more live instruments and vocal layers than we used on our EP – a grand piano, bass, guitar – in addition to synths, samples, and programming. A great example is the last track, 'New Reptiles', which was initially based around a looped Pylon sample and delay- and reverb-soaked acoustic guitar but ended up relying more on sparse instrumentation and rhythmic elements. A huge step forward for us was the ability to record vocals in a studio. We were really determined to have pristine vocal recordings that we wouldn't even be tempted to hide beneath thick layers of reverb. But as moody as we can get, we can't help but write pop songs!
What have been some of the challenges in recording your full-length?
We were really fortunate to be assisted with recording the vocals for the album by our friend Tyler McDonald. We were still living in Blacksburg, Virginia and it the vocal sessions were done during the coldest months of the winter. We walked to the first session through feet of snow and after Melissa laid down few great takes, the power went out and we lost all of them! Then, she caught a cold that lingered for weeks, which made the process take longer still. People think that because Virginia is in the South, it doesn't have cold, wet winters…but they'd be wrong! We live in LA now, though, so no danger of a repeat there.
What did you have in mind when creating this [Toni Braxton] cover?
A lot of the new album is influenced by 90s R&B. One night while rediscovering the awesomeness of Toni Braxton's 'You're Making Me High', we broke it down into its components, realizing that, like so much brilliantly produced music, less is more. We thought it would be fun to re-imagine the song in a sort of sultry and dreamy yet minimal way, so that's more or less what you're hearing here. Shout out to Braxton Family Values, which inspired the trip.
What else have you and your LA contemporaries, label mates, and friends been up to lately?
Well we've been in LA for only a couple of months, so we're just getting started here, but we just attempted our first show at an amazing multipurpose art space/residence called The Forge with our friend Vyxor. It was broken up by the LAPD 2.7 songs into our set, which was still evidently enough to induce making out on the dance floor. We have plans to get together with our boy Spazzkid soon. Also, two people close to our hearts – Some Ember – live somewhat nearby and we're looking forward to doing a show with them soon as well! Of course, we're attempting to convince our Virginia friends to come out: Mirror Kisses, we're looking at you! One of the best things about living here is that all of our online friends come through at some point. For instance, we just hung out for the first time IRL with Mike Textbeak who did a remix for our song Com Ocean last year!
Prospects and predictions for 2014?
We're looking forward to February when Love is as Cold as Death will be out there! We're hoping that there's European touring in the pipeline, as well as some U.S. dates. Also, 2014 will be the Brewers' comeback year. We can feel it.
Love Is As Cold as Death will be available February 4 from LebensStrasse Records.
