Late Aster Release New Single 'The True And Toxic View'

San Francisco Bay Area/Brooklyn quartet Late Aster released their latest single, "The True And Toxic View" today, the near title-track from their upcoming debut EP, True and Toxic, due out May 21 via Bright Shiny Things. In conjunction with the single the band has shared a video directed by LA-based artist/animator Kelsey Boncato (VRHAM-award winning 'THE FOREST'). watch. Pre-order True and Toxic on limited edition vinyl.

Discussing working with Boncato, the group's Anni Hochhalter stated, "Kelsey's entire body of work is so beautiful and detail-oriented. We loved the process of working with her to create something abstract and were excited to see how she would capture the complex brass lines, playful drum beats, and lush textures. All of the shapes and colors were selected based on the lyrics and feel of the song and really came to life with Kelsey's clever animation and design."

The track weaves a duet of vocals bouncing along trumpets, which the band ran through a Moog Minitaur synthesizer, giving them a distinctive punch. "The song gets going right away featuring quirky, stylized trumpet tricks and nostalgic sound production. I was trying to achieve something like a Dave Longstreth/Dirty Projectors wild-guitar harmonic background as the bones of the song and let the vocals sit on top of that," noted the band's Aaron Messing.

The members of Late Aster - Messing, Hochhalter, Cameron LeCrone, and Charles Mueller - all met while studying music performance in jazz and/or classical at Northwestern University and the University of Southern California. The quartet were quickly united by a love of experimentation, melding brass instruments with electronics, using forms and melodies influenced by popular music to push the boundaries between classical, jazz, pop, and rock. With their sound, Late Aster looks to draw out the intimacy and versatility of instruments commonly relegated to a passive, secondary role in rock music.

The quartet chose the name Late Aster, referring to wildflowers and nighttime stars. "We wanted a name that somehow captured the world as both earthly - the things we feel like we can perceive. And celestial - the forces on the edge of our perception," offered Hochhalter.

True and Toxic is a collection of musical sketches on the modern human condition. Focused on relationships, politics, science, and digital society, the songs string together disparate mediums and influences-digital and analogue, silicon and brass, composed and improvisatory-to create a soundtrack for the polarizing present. Each song is paired with visual accompaniment. Along with Kelsey Boncato, the group collaborated with Four/Ten Media, Deadeye Press, and Harrison Atkins.

Listen here:

Photo Credit: Four/Ten Media

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