You may remember that back in November, we brought you ‘Deadlights’ by Oregon based emo/rock band Southtowne Lanes. Well, it turns out that a lot can happen in little over two months. In that time, the band has signed to Brighton-based label Dog Knights Productions (Old Gray, Nai Harvest), and are ready to release their debut album ‘Give Up The Ghost’. It is with great pleasure then, that today we are bringing you an exclusive stream of the aforementioned album.
“We are all extremely proud of our product,” enthuses vocalist Matt Kupka. “This is our debut album, and we took a lot of time before we finally went for it. We were waiting for our sound to mature and retain enough stability and consistency while still remaining interesting and spontaneous. That took us almost 3 years of releases and touring to achieve.”
The time it took the band to put ‘Give Up The Ghost’ together has definitely been worth the wait. They spent the better part of a year writing, and honing their craft, ensuring they made the biggest impact they possibly could with their debut album. Once they were ready, recording took place in the summer of 2015, with Derek Leisy at The Falcon Room and D-Wreckords studio in Portland, OR. The album was then handed over to Adam Cichocki at Timber Studios in New Jersey, where production duties were handled.
Aside from the cathartic, jarring riffs that intertwine with punchy hooks, and unbridled passion, ‘Give Up The Ghost’ is more than just a collection of songs thrown together. It is an arresting album, and one that carries a deep, layered concept that is very personal to the band. “The record examines a situation in which the narrator is on a walk by them self, or so it would seem,” explains Kupka of the central theme that it carries. “The farther they walk, the farther into the past they throw themselves. Unresolved people, demons, and situations revive themselves, and the narrator struggles to walk the line between reality and ghosts, if there is a line at all. The album is about what a person takes from their past, and what stays in the past.”
With a debut as strong as this, 2016 is looking bright for Southtowne Lanes, and you can expect hear more from them as the year goes on. Physical copies of ‘Give Up The Ghost’ are available now from Dog Knights Productions, and you can hear the excellent album in full below.