NYC-based dream pop duo Mahogany have always been a band near and dear to our heart. Over many years, a veritable bounty of releases, and a handful of lineup shifts over time, the band has remained a live fixture throughout NYC’s underground scene, opening up for the likes of Anika, Interpol, and Luna. Consisting now of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Andrew Prinz and guitarist/vocalist Jaclyn Slimm, the pair have just released a new two-track single via Renovo. The single, their first release in nearly eleven years, expands on some of the more new wave/disco sounds that were hinted on in 2013’s eight-minute jam “Phase Break.” B-side “Polyvalence” features bubbling synth bass and a soaring string line before kicking into guitar-driven bliss. The track recalls the original Factory Records band The Wake as they progressed from dark post-punk band to indie-pop darlings. However, the A-side is a bonafide smash, with a high-necked bass groove and scintillating guitars sitting alongside perfectly programmed synthesizers, with a vocal melody from Slimm that is both heavenly and driving all at once.
The band has just released a video for the track, shot in Manhattan and directed by Julia Khoroshilov. The video is a beautifully textured affair, with purple and pink light shimmers adding an ethereal glow to Slimm’s travels through both the beautiful and gritty New York City streets. “We sought to interpret the modes of self-empowerment in the lyric through traversing and penetrating a brutalist urban landscape,” says Slimm.
Watch the video for “A Scaffold” below, and be sure to pick up a copy of the single via Bandcamp.
Header photo by Mats Bakken
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