SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: A SHORELINE DREAM – “DOWNSTAIRS SUNDAYS”

A SHORELINE DREAM – “DOWNSTAIRS SUNDAYS”

A SPILL EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE

Colorado is known for a few things that immediately come to mind – its mountains, clean air, Mork & Mindy, The Barnum Circus legacy, and shoegaze-dreampop-postpunk stalwarts A Shoreline Dream.

Today we have the pleasure of premiering their new single ‘Downstairs Sundays’, the latest offering from their long-awaited Melting LP, out now via Latenight Weeknight Records. This track whisps the listener on a journey – both sonically and scenically as the ending takes you beachward with a pleasure wave-crashing found-sounds accompaniment to prove it. Brilliant effort all round!

A Shoreline Dream is Ryan Policky (vocals, guitar, keys, bass, production) and Erik Jeffries (guitar, backing vocals) with Chase Dobson playing keys on this album. Hailing from the circus birthing ground of Barnum, Colorado, their sound combines lush melodic textures, organic instrumentation and vocals layered like a synth, similar in vein to Ride, Dead Can Dance and Spiritualized – all mixed with a cavernous production style all their own.

The new video features aerial footage filmed and edited by Policky. Earlier, the band also released videos for lead singles ‘Seek To Hide’ and ‘Melting’.

“This track is the raw form of A Shoreline Dream. Something we’ve incorporated in all our full length releases. It represents where so much of our vibe originates from. Erik and myself sitting down, with a few ideas in mind, recording as we think it through. The song itself, coupled with the visuals of a little known place called the Painted Mines feels like the perfect companion to the sound. Isolation. Beauty. Indescribable landscapes of color and sound that are impossible to visualize in scale. Though the track is an “interlude”, it’s such an important part of who we are and what we create,” says Ryan Policky.

Written over five months, the Melting LP not only summons the feeling of being lost-at-sea in a world burning ashore, but also dives into the need for a complete and unwavering change. Their new output features guitar tones ranging from lush layers to driven, post-rock arrangements woven behind Ryan’s ethereal and inspired vocal stylings.

Over the past 14 years, ASD has churned out numerous acclaimed releases under their own imprint (Latenight Weeknight Records), working with legends such as Ulrich Schnauss, east coast independent label mastermind Mark Kramer and, most recently, Engineers. A Shoreline Dream has toured with Ulrich Schnauss and was special guest for Chapterhouse on their final appearance in San Francisco.

This is the band’s first long-play since The Silent Sunrise (2014), followed by a string of singles originally intended to make up their next album. However, with the world in social and political upheaval in 2020, Ryan Policky gained creative strength and determination through events around him and abroad, developing music consistent with the times and possibly the most refined and heartfelt work the band has ever produced. Guitarist Erik Jeffries’ powerfully epic and post rock influenced guitar moments add to the emotion in output among the band’s best work to date.

“Our vibe tends to move darker, but lately and surprisingly it has been uptempo, yet still dark. I have always loved that. A sound that is super energetic but downright dreary. I think that is where we are. We’re pumped to get depressed, but also in ideas that were nearly all conceived on their first play-throughs. Emotion translated into tempos. Take the primal element of rhythm and build layers on top of it. Ours just happened to turn out the way they are here, and we were super excited how it came to be. Probably one of my favorite releases we’ve put out there,” says Ryan Policky.

“Working on Melting and collaborating during writing and composing process was extremely rewarding. So when we started to put ideas together it seemed like new ideas were jumping out at me. And working with Ryan was fantastic. There was an openness to explore and no ideas or conversations were off limits. It really helped push me to be thoughtful (and critical) about what I was contributing and kept me very committed throughout the entire process,” says Erik Jeffries.

The ‘Melting’ LP is now available everywhere digitally, including Spotify. It can also be obtained on CD or digitally directly from the artist via Bandcamp at https://ashorelinedream.bandcamp.com/album/melting

Also check out the band’s latest two videos, released just ahead of this one:

A Shoreline Dream
[Single]
(Latenight Weeknight Records)
Release Date: September 11, 2020

Artist Links

Photo Credits: Ryan Policky