Los Angeles – As we enter what is known as “festival season,” there are always a few bands that make an enormous impression on the audiences, their songs going on to be considered the “songs of the summer” for the indie music world. Last year Future Islands played that roll, catapulting to the forefront of the public’s consciousness, even flirting with mainstream success after their performance on Letterman went viral. It seems that another Baltimore band, Lower Dens, is set to follow in their footsteps with the release this week of Escape From Evil on Ribbon Music.

Lower Dens is led by the dynamic Jana Hunter, a vocalist who has received favorable comparisons to a couple of indie rock legends, PJ Harvey and Victoria Legrand of Beach House. While Hunter’s vocal work may share strong elements with those artists, she brings in enough of her unique witty, dry observations on existence to make these songs unlike anything else on the music landscape. Hunter changes her cadence and mood throughout the album, sometimes even within the course of a single song. This is a fitting technique considering the themes of Escape From Evil: the confusion of existence and the dichotomy of life and death. As Hunter states these are “songs that people could rally around, I hope. Real truth-telling set to a good beat is real catharsis.”

Best New Bands last checked in with Lower Dens a few years ago, covering their sold-out 2012 show at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom. Kelly Knapp described that Lower Dens’ “textures and timbres intermingle in the center and take shape into an entity of its own.” While 2010’s Nootropics and 2012’s Twin-Hand Movement were critically lauded records, neither album reaches the level of sonic sophistication and innate catchiness heard on Escape From Evil.

Rounding out Lower Dens’ lineup are bassist Geoff Graham, drummer Nate Nelson, and guitarist Walker Teret. Teret replaces founding member Will Adams on guitar, and he does not miss a beat. Besides the stellar production and captivating vocals of Hunter, the guitars on Escape From Evil are the most striking element. Teret’s tone throughout the album is a perfectly calibrated callback to the longing, aching guitar sounds that defined early 80’s new wave and late 80’s dream pop. First single “To Die in L.A.” is easily Lower Dens’ most successful outing on Escape From Evil, combining the broodingly captivating lyricism and vocals of Hunter with some funky-yet-intricate guitars care of Teret.

“Ondine” is the second single to be released from Escape From Evil, and serves as the perfect showcase of Hunter’s vocal ability. Over a grinding keyboard and guitar track, Hunter laments the difficulty of a rocky relationship, claiming over and over again “I will treat you better,” and begging her lover to “hold on.”  Much of the album is a balance between tracks like “To Die in L.A.” and “Ondine,” alternatively upbeat and catchy or brooding and introspective.

Lower Dens’ release is loaded with cinematic pop gems that will undoubtedly sound amazing played in front of thousands of outdoor concertgoers. The album is successful on many different levels – while each song would sound excellent placed right in the middle of a summer mix tape, the album also flows together in an outstandingly cohesive manner. Escape From Evil is arguably Lower Dens’ best effort to date and is certainly one of the must-listen releases of 2015.

Lower Dens are touring the United States and Canada from April through August in support of Escape From Evil. Take a look at the tour section of their Facebook for tickets and additional information.

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Matt Matasci

Perhaps it was years of listening to the eclectic and eccentric programming of KPIG-FM with his dad while growing up on the Central Coast of California, but Matt Matasci has always rebuffed mainstream music while seeking unique and under-the-radar artists.Like so many other Californian teenagers in the 90s and 00s, he first started exploring the alternative music world through Fat Wreck Chords skate-punk.This simplistic preference eventually matured into a more diverse range of tastes - from the spastic SST punk of Minutemen to the somber folk-tales of Damien Jurado, and even pulverizing hardcore from bands like Converge.He graduated from California Lutheran University with a BA in journalism.Matt enjoys spending his free time getting angry at the Carolina Panthers, digging through the dollar bin at Amoeba, and taking his baby daughter to see the Allah-Lahs at the Santa Monica Pier.

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