Currently residing in the desert town of Landers, California, Cooper Gillespie (vocals/guitar/bass) and Greg Gordon (drums/sequences)—both of whom are veteran players in their own right—precisely describe their collaboration, LANDROID, as the musical offspring of “David Lynch and the Mojave Desert”. On their upcoming debut LP, Imperial Dunes, they ditch their past punk rock aesthetic for a more transcendental and atmospheric vibe. In particular, their latest single, “Yellow Sea”, is at once dense and distant, filling the room with evocative noirish timbres and haunting introspection.
Regarding the creation of the track, Gillespie explains, “Several people I was close to passed away in a short period. Even though they had passed on, I continued to feel them acutely. ‘Yellow Sea’ is a meditation on transitioning from this dimension to the next. It was the first song we recorded. I played the demo for Greg. He thought of taking the track in a Moby-inspired direction. We recorded the song with Josiah Mazzaschi [The Jesus & Mary Chain] at his Cave Studio in Los Angeles. Josiah had a Juno 6 and Univox Mini-Korg 2 that we couldn’t get enough of. Those synths expanded the track and magnified its cinematic quality.”
From the start, it’s easy to imagine “Yellow Sea” being performed during a dreamlike lounge scene in, say, Twin Peaks or Mulholland Drive. Its isolated yet symphonic melancholia immediately resonates due to a mixture of gloomy strings, disconsolate percussion, and ethereal stacked vocals. Gordon adds chilling nuance and weight to Gillespie’s gorgeously distressed collage, resulting in an alluring amount of alternating heavy and light glimpses of anguish and catharsis. Along the way, LANDROID channel bits of Muse, David Bowie, Cocteau Twins, and Neverending White Lights while feeling fairly idiosyncratic.
Let “Yellow Sea” wash over you and let us know what you think. Also, be sure to check out Imperial Dunes when it comes out on 13 September via Mojave Beach Records.