Spin Cycle: Songs From the Wild - Portland Mercury

Long walks in the Buckman neighborhood reveal echoes of unseen musicians performing behind bushes, with neighbors applauding at the end of songs. The narrator hears boogie-woogie piano sounds that sharpen with each step, but cannot pinpoint the exact house or block, leading to an ongoing search for the thrill of unpretentious music. This week’s albums arrive mainly through chance rather than extensive digging. Velveteen by Phosphene, a Portland duo, upends hazy indie-pop by expanding sonic breadth on their fourth full-length. With engineer and co-producer Greg Francis, the duo broadens sweeping, piano-forward opuses into a suite of fragile yet defiant tunes. “Warding” is described as a breakup song brightened by buoyant keys and soaring vocals that capture post-split anxieties.

"A favorite pastime of mine is to take long walks in the Buckman neighborhood, trying to determine from where the echoes of practicing musicians are originating. Depending on the day, an acoustic performance thrums through a barricade of bushes behind my yard, where an unseen troubadour routinely serenades the streets in anonymity. Multi-home applauses are typical at the conclusion of this unknown musician's songs (sometimes Neutral Milk Hotel covers, sometimes what I perceive as originals), and a neighborly essence seems to form during those fleeting moments."

"One time on a neighborhood walk, I heard the faint tinkling of keys that with each step sharpened to a full-bodied boogie-woogie piano avalanche, the kind of barrelhouse tunes Fats Domino or Dr. John purveyed. I stood at what I thought was a polite and reasonable distance from the joyous noise, and remained in awe at the skill being unleashed on that unseen instrument. I think about it often because I can't remember exactly which house or block it originated from, so I am in constant search to find it again."

"For fans of Alvvays, Two Sheds, Cocteau Twins Portland duo Phosphene-Rachel Frankel and Matt Hemmerich-upend the hazy reins of indie-pop on their fourth full-length, Velveteen. In the band's third collaboration with engineer and co-producer Greg Francis, the duo expands the sonic breadth of their sweeping, piano-forward opuses through a suite of tunes that are fragile and defiant in varying measure."

""Warding" is a classic breakup song somehow brightened by buoyant keys and Frankel's soaring vocals, which articulate the marrow of post-split anxieties with lines like, "You don't see me now / Goddamn, I wish you would / Eating like a bird / Tell"

Read at Portland Mercury