Boston Shoegaze outfit, Drop Nineteens, has returned after a thirty-year hiatus with a new music video for their latest single, “Scapa Flow.” Fans of the band can enjoy this exciting track as a preview of their upcoming album, Hard Light, which is set to be released on November 3 by Wharf Cat Records.
Upon the band’s dissolution in the mid-90s, frontman Greg Ackell had firmly believed his journey in music creation had reached its end. They had enjoyed a remarkable run, sharing the spotlight with industry giants like Radiohead, Hole, Blur, PJ Harvey, and Smashing Pumpkins. The band had grown from Boston teens to mature artists in their mid-twenties, boasting a catalogue of MTV videos, a pair of BBC sessions, and a raft of festival performances. Thus, when Drop Nineteens came to an end, Ackell felt a sense of fulfillment. An entire life lay ahead for him to explore fresh pursuits. The music chapter was closed…or so he thought.
Almost three decades later, Ackell felt a sudden and profound urge to reconnect with the guitar. In the wake of this rekindled passion, he promptly reached out to Steve Zimmerman, the band’s bassist and co-guitarist, and they dived headlong into the creative process. For Ackell, the process seemed seamless, as if his musical creativity had merely been hibernating. The first step towards the creation of ‘Hard Light‘ involved reassembling the original band members – Zimmerman, Paula Kelley, Motohiro Yasue, and Peter Koeplin.
The impetus to reunify the band was provided by their acquaintance, Cleveland-based musician Craig Rich. Over the span of a year, they pieced together the album, recording in a variety of studios scattered across the nation – Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles. The band found the process of music-making to be organic, flowing, and invigorating. What emerged was a Drop Nineteens record with a distinctive contemporary feel, utterly unique in its sound and vision. With their 2023 release, Drop Nineteens have breathed new life into the genre they helped forge, providing a cool, clear perspective. It is a snapshot of a band, thirty years on, still brimming with talent and dedication.
The freshly unveiled video for “Scapa Flow” takes the form of a silent film, presenting a sequence of submerged vessels being reclaimed from the depths – a potent metaphor for the band’s own reemergence from their long hiatus.
Watch the video below:
The album bears the creative stamp of the original quintet – Greg Ackell, Steve Zimmerman, Paula Kelley, Motohiro Yasue, and Peter Koeplin, who initially collaborated for their 1992 debut, Delaware. Alongside the announcement of their album, they have also revealed a concise itinerary of fall tour dates, with supporting acts from Horse Jumper of Love, Greg Mendez, and Winter.
Hard Light will stand as the band’s third LP, the first since their 1993 release, National Coma.
Tour Dates:
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