Motel Black balance an emotional complexity on ‘Morning Hum’
Boston alt-rock band unleashes expansive new single April 1
HOMEPAGE . SPOTIFY . BANDCAMP . APPLE . INSTAGRAM . FACEBOOK . YOUTUBE . TWITTER . LINKTREE
‘Morning Hum’ music video premieres on YouTube April 15
Listen to Motel Black on Spotify
Photo Credit: Marcos Nava
“‘Morning Hum’ is all about being held captive by anxiety while simultaneously feeling comfort in futility” – vocalist and guitarist Brian George
BOSTON, MA [April 1, 2022] -- We’re living in an age of emotional duality. We’re confident enough to venture back out into society, but also fearful of what we may encounter; we’re boastful of our successes broadcast across social media, but well-aware of the failures we strive to keep private; and we’re assured that this smothering pandemic age is finally behind us after two lonely and confusing years, but forever skeptical of how we got here in the first place. Notions of duality are sprawled across Motel Black’s arresting and engaging new single, a six-minute yearner titled “Morning Hum” that hits the streams on Friday, April 1, with its accompanying music video premiering on YouTube on April 15.
“Morning Hum” is a slow-burning release of tension; the first new music from the Boston rock band in 2022. It’s arrival wraps an extended rollout of five singles that not only finds the quartet’s sound evolving into something rooted in both experimental dark ambiance and loud, noisy alternative rock, but also plants the seeds for a full-length record due out sometime later this year. With a 6:17 runtime, “Morning Hum” exists as an extended expression at a time where songs are shrinking shorter and less impactful by the day. And while releasing steady-building, rumbling rock and roll songs may not be the norm in 2022, the track swirls within a headspace that is very much rooted in the right now – even if it was first conceived a few years back.
“‘Morning Hum’ is all about being held captive by anxiety while simultaneously feeling comfort in futility,” says Motel Black vocalist and guitarist Brian George. “At this point, this song was written about five years ago. I was working, going to school, working more, trying to be in a relationship and being part of this fledgling band. I wrote this to recognize how it is OK to have high expectations, but also realize that everything I do is meaningless. As it seems to have become the Motel Black lyrical formula: This song takes two conflicting things – anxiety and comfort – and pairs them.”
Those two conflicts make “Morning Hum” appropriate for a Spring ‘22 release as we wrestle with how to once again become functional members of society. A staple of the band’s live set that was easier to play live than it was to record, the track represents a creative shift for Motel Black, embracing ideas of change and evolution as they allow their compositions room to grow organically, and allow multiple moods to fit together like pieces of a puzzle, as echoed in the accompanying artwork.
“For the last few years, we've kind of leaned on our louder rock songs for singles,” says drummer Sean Joncas. “This seemed like a good moment to put out something that opens the door for going in some new directions sonically. Much like the lyrical duality, ‘Morning Hum’ is also like two songs entangled with each other in its structure. It also reflects the type of music we tend to gravitate toward in artists we admire – ambient, off-kilter minor key stuff with a gradual build towards something.”
As “Morning Hum” stretches out and unfurls from the speakers, another element of the song’s various layers arrives via a visual presentation, from the single artwork’s collage of Boston new and old and its music video, which depicts a person in a bear costume walking down a busy stretch of Massachusetts Avenue, which bassist Marcos Nava says was a natural fit for the song’s themes. The aforementioned artwork, designed by guitarist Ryan Dougherty, aligns with Motel Black’s single release series, as it depicts the final panel in one longform piece that links each track for a larger, more cohesive visual presentation.
“It's very in keeping with the Motel Black way: A disparate collage of hodgepodge elements that somehow form one monolithic monstrosity,” Dougherty adds. “In total, it's a five-foot long painting that seems to have every color under the sun and yet a very defined color range. It contains elements of destruction that were either historical heritage moments or current events, but also new growth. Neither is inherently good nor bad. Destruction can be positive when as the voice of justice or the gateway to new growth – and growth can be destructive when an agent of industrialization, class, or inequality. The artwork for the single tries to do all of that… while still trying to find space for the band name to be stuck on top.”
Media Contact: Please direct all press inquiries to Motel Black at motelblack@gmail.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.
***
Motel Black are:
Ryan Dougherty - Lead guitar
Brian George - Vocals and guitar
Sean Joncas - Drums
Marcos Nava - Bass and backing vocals
***
Motel Black short bio:
Motel Black first emerged on the Boston scene in 2016, playing a handful of shows before self-releasing the demo A Commonwealth Songbook in November of that year. After cultivating a live show by performing all around New England, the band then dropped debut EP Culture Shock in April 2018. Along the way, Motel Black’s songs stretched to cover topics ranging from substance abuse, racism, and gentrification, to more overarching themes of love and death. The following year saw Motel Black performing heavily across the Northeast, including several regional festival appearances and opening for a handful of national touring acts. Boston label Green Line Records released the one-off single “Master of Reality Revisited” in July 2019. A new single series was launched in Fall 2020, a result of the pandemic and the uncertainty it brought, pairing each song with an accompanying music video to develop the band’s digital presence and remain creatively active. Lead single “Evening Standard” landed on several year-end and best-of lists, while marking a shift to a more textured, atmospheric sound. New music arrives in 2022, beginning with the April single “Morning Hum.”
***
‘Morning Hum’ production credits:
Recorded and produced by Motel Black
“Morning Hum” written by Brian George
Mixed by Ryan Stack at The Noise Floor
Mastered by Chris Chase at The Noise Floor
Cover art by Ryan Dougherty
***
‘Morning Hum’ single artwork:
***
The music of Motel Black can be heard on:
Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood, Bay State Rock, Vanyaland, Allston Pudding, Mass Music Hype, WMBR’s Pipeline! and Late Risers Club, Sound of Boston, Turn Up The Volume, Local Music Now, Wave Radio Boston, The Deli, and other fine stations, shows, outlets, and publications…
“An eerie atmosphere.” _Allston Pudding
“Stoned-saturated alt-indie.” _IDIOTEQ
“Firm noise band from Boston producing hook-laden rock, atmospheric and noisy soundscapes, embracing elements of post-punk, garage, doomy folk, and psych-rock.” _Turn Up The Volume
***
Media Contact: Please direct all press inquiries to Motel Black at motelblack@gmail.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.
HOMEPAGE . SPOTIFY . BANDCAMP . APPLE . INSTAGRAM . FACEBOOK . YOUTUBE . TWITTER . LINKTREE