California Pop Pioneers The Orange Peels Release First New Music In Two Years

California pop pioneers The Orange Peels come back with first new music in two years; "Thank You," is first single from planned double-album.

Band's upcoming two-record set to be preceded by comprehensive vinyl reissue of 1997 "Square" debut, including two discs of unreleased material.

"It definitely pulls out all the stops as spiraling orch-pop," says Brooklyn Vegan in its premiere coverage of "Thank You," the first new music by The Orange Peels in two years. The song is taken from the band's upcoming double-album (working title Celebrate the Moments of Your Life) which is scheduled for release this fall. Leader Allen Clapp says the song "could be the most openhearted thing the band has ever recorded." Listen w/ lyrics at the link above or choose your destination at the link below.

Prior to the release of its two-record return, The Orange Peels will share the re-issue of its 1997 debut album Square. The deluxe package, variously known as Square³, Square Cubed, or Square x 3, will arrive via the Minty Fresh label on June 26th, and includes a freshly re-mastered version of the original album on 180g vinyl plus two CDs including bonus tracks, alternate mixes, and four-track demos. 40 tracks tell the story of how the band evolved from Allen Clapp and His Orchestra into The Orange Peels.

See below for more info and read about the project's crowd funding journey at Kickstarter here.

"It's the kind of song you might write if you thought you were dying."

That's how singer Allen Clapp described the track to his friends in the late days of 2019. After 15 days of fever, the mantra was on repeat in his head: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sick for a month with pneumonia, and not sure about his chances of recovery, things were looking pretty dodgy.

Then he was hit by the news that his father was not long for this world, and that his mom had a new cancer diagnosis. When it rains...

The early days of 2020 rolled in, and the world was changing. Clapp's dad lost his battle with cancer. Clapp and his wife Jill (bass) had invited their bandmate Gabriel Coan (drums) out for a recording session to try to bring some joy to the situation. As the three were in the studio, the murmurings of a pandemic started becoming real. It was unavoidable. Schools were closing, new orders were being issued by the hour.

The band brought everything they had to the session. And "Thank You" is first fruits. It could be their "Hey Jude." It could be their most open-hearted song to date. A song of gratitude for life and love that started in a fever finally took on its full meaning, as well as full musical realization.

The session was supposed to be a "clean-up" session for an album project that was 90% finished. Instead, the band ended up composing an entire new album's worth of material. Nobody wanted to say it, but finally it became obvious: They were working on a Double Album expected in fall of 2020.