All-girl synth-pop trio Au Revoir Simone has been one of Brooklyn’s most highly-regarded outfits for nearly a decade, and though praise from the indie establishment has come in spades throughout the years (in 2011 David Lynch told The New York Times that if he were to make another film, he’d likely put the group in it), front woman Erika Spring was never able shake the idea of a solo project. “A lot of the songs started as iPhone recordings,” the Colorado native explained about the tracks on her soon-to-be-released self-titled EP. “I’d whisper [them] to myself in hotel bathrooms during our last tour.”
It’s 94 degrees in New York and Spring is darting through Central Park, “looking for a shady spot,” and rehashing the initial writers block she suffered from in 2010, when Au Revoir Simone decided to go on a two-year hiatus. “All I knew is I wanted bigger, more aggressive beats,” she says. “For a while, I even thought it was going to be a folk music project.” When friend Jorge Elbrecht approached her about producing a few songs, Spring’s EP finally began to take shape—after a stalled attempt at taking up a new instrument. “I was playing around with an Appalachian dulcimer,” she explains, “but the tunings were too limiting, so I ended up going back to keyboards.”
Elbrecht, who fronts fellow Brooklyn band Violens, is known for a style that skews in a much dreamier direction than the comparatively frenetic up-tempo sensibility of Au Revoir Simone. And although you can still hear the remnants of their lo-fi coolness and mellow textures on Spring’s most recent single, “Hidden,” her new hushed vocal style, coupled with Elbrecht’s inverted synth riffs, creates the kind of aloof, washed-out patchwork of sound that spills out of the speakers.
“When I first started playing music I was always influenced by British electro bands like Broadcast,” Spring continues, “but the dreamy quality has always been important to me. My favorite songs have always been ones you can get lost in.”
And how will this ear for lush soundscapes affect the fourth Au Revoir Simone album, which Spring confirmed they will be recording next month?
“I’ve learned so much and can definitely try to bring some of it to our next project,” she says. “But as much as one sets out to make the record they have in their mind, it always ends up being the sum of its parts.”
It’s 94 degrees in New York and Spring is darting through Central Park, “looking for a shady spot,” and rehashing the initial writers block she suffered from in 2010, when Au Revoir Simone decided to go on a two-year hiatus. “All I knew is I wanted bigger, more aggressive beats,” she says. “For a while, I even thought it was going to be a folk music project.” When friend Jorge Elbrecht approached her about producing a few songs, Spring’s EP finally began to take shape—after a stalled attempt at taking up a new instrument. “I was playing around with an Appalachian dulcimer,” she explains, “but the tunings were too limiting, so I ended up going back to keyboards.”
Elbrecht, who fronts fellow Brooklyn band Violens, is known for a style that skews in a much dreamier direction than the comparatively frenetic up-tempo sensibility of Au Revoir Simone. And although you can still hear the remnants of their lo-fi coolness and mellow textures on Spring’s most recent single, “Hidden,” her new hushed vocal style, coupled with Elbrecht’s inverted synth riffs, creates the kind of aloof, washed-out patchwork of sound that spills out of the speakers.
“When I first started playing music I was always influenced by British electro bands like Broadcast,” Spring continues, “but the dreamy quality has always been important to me. My favorite songs have always been ones you can get lost in.”
And how will this ear for lush soundscapes affect the fourth Au Revoir Simone album, which Spring confirmed they will be recording next month?
“I’ve learned so much and can definitely try to bring some of it to our next project,” she says. “But as much as one sets out to make the record they have in their mind, it always ends up being the sum of its parts.”
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