On the heels of an extremely successful trip to the UK which landed Luke Rathborne love from NME and the BBC, Luke returns to the US just in time for the release of his debut album, the split EP I Can Be One E.P. / Dog Years E.P., which is out now via Dilettante Recordings.
People have been asking – why the split EP? Rather than muddling his music’s disparate take on the world around him, attempting to intertwine songs written under different circumstances and in different frames of mind, Rathborne decided to offer audiences his ideal window into his headscape – two EPs, each unique in their own right, as one album.
Dog Years EP (stream in its entirety on Soundcloud) embraces Rathborne’s more pop aesthetic – not shiny, happy pop, but effervescent, melancholic pop. The title track offers a cynical poke to not letting the “dog years” pass you by. The material from the I Can Be One EP was penned following Rathborne’s move to New York City after high school and completed with members of Antony and the Johnsons contributing to the arrangements. The material on this EP takes on a somber, darker hue.
But while the tones change, the inspiration is largely the same. “All of the songs – on both EPs – are about being afraid of connecting, because connections open up the possibility of being harmed…It’s interesting that they intersect here, because I’d been playing with the idea of putting them together and seeing how they mix, but this seems a lot more pure – this is my music, this is what I want to say, and this is how I want to say it,” Luke explains.
If you’re headed to SXSW, don’t miss Luke Rathborne when he opens for The Stokes.
Download “I Can Be One” for free here
Download “Dog Years” for free here
LIVE TOUR DATES:
03.11.11 – Vinyl Release Show @ Harvard and Stone – Los Angeles, CA
03.15.11 – The Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA ** (Sold Out)
03.17.11 – Auditorium Shores Stage @ Lady Bird Lake – Austin, TX (SXSW) @@
03.17 – Paste Magazine Stage – Austin, TX (SXSW)
03.18.11 – Filter Showcase @ Cedar St. Courtyard – Austin, TX (SXSW)
03.21.11 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY ** (Sold Out)
** w/ Noah and The Whale
@@ w/ The Strokes
Related Articles
- Video Premiere – Luke Rathborne – “Dog Years” (pastemagazine.com)
- Try It Before You Buy It – March 8, 2011 Music Releases (largeheartedboy.com)
Musically Amusing 