Birmingham, Alabama native Louis Schefano has had quite an interesting career thus far. After playing drums for Remy Zero, he joined two other bands — Little Red Rocket and Verbena — before issuing his debut solo album, 1999’s The Art of Navigation, under the pseudonym of Regia. In-between then and now, he’s kept busy here and there (including live performances with Bright Eyes, the Ladybug Transistor, Maria Taylor, and Sarah McLaughlin), with the most substantial release being his first LP under his name, Opposite Side of the World, this past February. Unsurprisingly, it further established him as a very promising and skilled solo artist, and if his newest single, “Wish Something Would Happen”, is any indicator, its follow-up EP, Wish, will do the same.
Musically, it’s a sparse yet heartfelt and biting reflection whose resolute drumming and country rock guitarwork fit well beneath Schefano’s smooth melodic urgencies and poignant lyrics. In a way, it evokes the downtrodden, nostalgic airs of artists like R.E.M., Scott Miller (Game Theory/the Loud Family), and Nirvana.
Fittingly, then, the accompanying visuals conjure the hip solitude of early ‘90s music videos, with Schefano wearing sun glasses, strumming his electric six-string, and singing in front of sped up footage of traffic, subway stations, and the like. He even clarifies that the video (conceptualized by Paul Stula and filmed in LA) is meant to represent “the struggle between me and my alter-ego. So, I exaggerated a character wearing sunglasses with my guitar really low, not thinking it’d end up being sort of the main character in the video.”
Check it out below and then head over to iTunes or Amazon to grab the three-track EP, which comes out this Friday.