Geographer Shares Cover of Phoebe Bridgers' 'Kyoto'

Ahead of his March tour, synth-pop luminary Geographer shares a stunning cover of Phoebe Bridgers' hit single, "Kyoto."

Explaining the origin, he says, "This song started out as a Wedding gift for the wife of the editor of Atwood Magazine. Learning the song made me fall even more in love with it, particularly the lyrics of the verses. The line in the chorus is what originally made me do a double-take when listening to the song for the first time. I've never heard anyone sing anything like 'I'm gonna kill you if you don't beat me to it,' and to start the line off on the 9th of the chord, with so much tension, it was a two-for-one deal on novel and moving."

Adding, "In stripping the song down and singing the verses over and over I finally understood what the song was about, and saw how impressively crafted it is, it's like a Keats poem. Ideas flow into each other, and the emotional weight of the ideas that bounce off of each other is somehow buoyant and immense, like a cargo ship laden with goods from some foreign market, impossibly righting itself every time it pitches on the massive waves. The cover truly took shape after the suggestion to flesh out the arrangement and not just have it be stripped down. I tried a lot of things-flute, strings, piano-until settling on what I described to the mastering engineer as a "digital hellscape" to play the role of the aforementioned waves. I don't know if I've ever used dissonance to quite such an emotional effect, in such delicate conversation with simple beauty, walking the line we do in life, between the looming horrors around us and the small joys of our lives."

Formed in San Francisco, Geographer is the moniker for now Los Angeles-based artist Mike Deni. He is touring in support of his new album, Down and Out In The Garden Of Earthly Delights, an 18 track voyage of synth-pop bliss. The tour will launch in San Francisco on March 8th and includes stops in Chicago, Boston, New York, and more before wrapping on April 16th in Phoenix, AZ. He is also confirmed for Treefort Festival and for Just Like Heaven Festival. Tickets are on-sale now and a full list of dates is below.

Part social scientist, part troubadour, if Geographer is an expert at anything, it's precisely chronicling life's imperfections. He has headlined many national tours, played Outside Lands, Firefly, and other festivals, released two critically acclaimed albums, and performed with such musical luminaries as K.Flay, The Flaming Lips, Young The Giant, Tycho, Ratatat, Betty Who, and Tokyo Police Club.

Listen to the new cover here:

Tour Dates

Tue 03/08 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent

Thu 03/10 - Seattle, WA - Barboza

Fri 03/11 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge

Sat 03/12 - Vancouver, BC - Wise Hall

Sun 03/13 - Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo

Tue 03/15 - Sacramento, CA - Goldfield Downtown

Wed 03/16 - Santa Cruz, CA - Catalyst Atrium

Thu 03/17 - San Diego, CA - Casbah

Fri 03/18 - Santa Barbara, CA - Soho Music Club

Tue 03/22 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge

Wed 03/23 - Boise, ID - Treefort Festival

Fri 03/25 - Denver, CO - Lost Lake

Sun 03/27 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St Entry

Mon 03/28 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon

Tue 03/29 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle

Thu 03/31 - Toronto, ON - The Drake

Fri 04/01 - Montreal, QC - L'Esco

Sat 04/02 - Boston, MA - Middle East Upstairs

Sun 04/03 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom

Tue 04/05 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's

Thu 04/07 - Washington, DC - DC9 Nightclub

Fri 04/08 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506

Sat 04/09 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl

Mon 04/11 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs)

Tue 04/12 - Austin, TX - Empire Control Room

Wed 04/13 - Dallas, TX - Deep Ellum Art Co

Fri 04/15 - El Paso, TX - Lowbrow Palace

Sat 04/16 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar

Sat 05/21 - Pasadena, CA - Just Like Heaven Festival