Whitney – Spark (Vinyl)

Julien EhrlichandMax Kakacekcould hear the staggering differences in the songs they were writing for their third album asWhitney,Sparkthe buoyant drum loops, the effortless falsetto hooks, the coruscant keyboard lines. They suddenly sounded like a band reimagined, their once-ramshackle folk-pop now brimming with unprecedented gusto and sheen. But could they see it, too?

So in the ad hoc studio the Chicago duo built in the living room of their rented Portland bungalow, a shared 2020 escape hatch amid breakups and lockdowns,JulienandMaxdecided to find out. Somewhere between midnight and dawn every night, their brains refracted by the late hour and light psychedelics, theyd play their latest creations while a hardware store disco ball spun overhead and slowed-down music videos from megastars spooled silently on YouTube. Did their own pop songsso much more immediate and modern than their hazy originsfit such big-budget reels?

Tracklist

1Nothing Remains
2Back Then
3Blue
4Twirl
5Real Love
6Memory
7Self
8Never Crossed My Mind
9Terminal
10Heart Will Beat
11Lost Control
12County Lines