Nico Schneit, the human behind the undeniably cool, Brooklyn-based band Air Waves, has released their newest masterpiece The Dance, out now via Fire Records. After a decade of releasing reliably catchy records, this album marks a pop-infused chapter for the singer-songwriter. Recorded at Figure 8 studios in Brooklyn, the new album boasts an impressive lineup of collaborators including Skyler Skjelset of Fleet Foxes and Beach House, Frankie Cosmos, Luke Temple, and many others.

Schneit is one of the best in the game at creating hooks that refuse to leave once invited in. Packed full of their irresistible melodies, seemingly endless list of impressive collaborators, and mastery of storytelling, The Dance is nine tracks of bliss, showcasing a tenured artist in their stride.

As its name suggests, The Dance refuses to stand still. Instead, it spins, flips, and sidesteps through different moods. Stand out track “Wait” is a synthy and addictive beast that will beg to be put on repeat. Titular “The Dance” is a nostalgic romp that evokes the stuttering, violent emotions of slow-dancing at a sepia-toned prom. Closing track “Peer Peer” is an ambient, stilted ditty that ends the album on a pleasant question mark. Schneit‘s throaty, melancholic vocals— which have become a calling card for Air Waves—provides the glue to these different textures. The Dance feels like a blurry night out, complete with romance, mystery, and good music. The ebbs and flows, good times and uncomfortable moments, and abrupt endings—That’s what life is about, packed up and presented through this record.

The Dance is a true pandemic album. Air Waves completed recording at the beginning of the pandemic and sat on the record through the years, keeping busy by tweaking, perfecting, and waiting. This patience and time gives the album a weighty, mature quality– It feels like an aged cheese just ready to be unwrapped.

HighClouds connected with Air Waves over Zoom to catch up about the new album, chat about touring during the pandemic, and dish over their collaboration with indie sweetheart Frankie Cosmos. Their chill disposition and openness about the nitty-gritty of the creative process was refreshing, adding yet another lens through which to experience the album. You can find the interview, which has been edited for clarity and conciseness, right here. You can check out the album on BandCamp.

HighClouds: Congratulations on your new album. It is so good! What are you most excited to share with listeners on this release?

Air Waves: It’s been done for a while so I’m excited for the whole thing to be heard. So far, people have been most receptive to the song “Wait.” Even when I’ve been playing it live during a ten-song set, everyone’s like, “What was that last song you played?” I’m excited for people to hear the other songs as well.

What do you think it is about “Wait” that really resonates with fans?

It’s really catchy. That song has four beats in the song, so I think it just kind of gets stuck in your head and people are drawn to that. There’s something about bubblegum pop.

I love the “Wait, wait, demon lover” refrain in that track. It seems like monsters, demons, and aliens show up a lot on the album. What other subjects were you looking to explore?

Demon lover is actually a nice thing. It’s like someone you’re like really into and they overtake your world. I have some attention deficit problems, so it’s a song about that—Having to ask people to repeat themselves. It’s gotten better as I’ve gotten older. I had this idea of a fantastical landscape where cowboys were running around and there’s flowers everywhere and it’s kind of beachy.

Speaking of getting older, you’ve been releasing music now for over a decade. What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned about your artistic process throughout the years?

Collaborating with other people keeps me going because it adds new layers to the songs and the albums. My first album has Sharon Van Etten. Where she is now is such a different place from when she came in doing backing for me. Friends and people I admire– I never know what they’re going to add.

Luke Temple added so much to every song on this album. I’ve been a big fan of his music. He’s also been playing for over a decade. It’s such an honor to have him on this record.

On the topic of collaborators, what was it like to work with Frank Cosmos? How did that come about?

For “Black Metal,” I just thought [Frank Cosmos‘s] voice would work well with mine. I did a Zoom concert with Juan Wauters at the beginning of the pandemic and she [Frankie] was one of the only people that came. I asked if she wanted to sing on that song and she did such a great job.

This was a true pandemic album, as it was finished three years ago and is just now being released. Is it true you recorded this record in two days?

All the underlying tracks were done in two days with a four piece band—Literally a day or two after we were told not to leave our homes. At the beginning, we all thought we were going to be stuck inside for two weeks or a month. After a month, I started reaching out to people and I was like, “All right, this is going to be a while.”

How did it feel to sit on a project for that long?

I’m glad I sat on it because it gave me something to do. I worked on the mixing and the mastering and finding a mixing person.

I’m not in a rush. In the past, I used to always feel this like intense urgency to get things out. But music’s so different now. People feel this pressure to keep releasing stuff because of social media and all that. I’m a little more relaxed about it than I used to [be].

How did you come to adopt that level-headed attitude?

I guess maturity, maybe. I mean, what am I going to do? It sucked for everyone too that we were stuck in this situation and if I released it, I wouldn’t be able to tour. I just waited. And I’m really glad I waited because I met Fire Records. I think it’s coming at a good time right now.

How did you get connected with your label and how has it changed your relationship with this release?

I got connected with them because [my booking agency] Anniversary shares an office with Fire. I looked at Fire‘s roster and I was like, “Oh, these are amazing bands.” I just kept hearing new artists that were on their label. I asked my booking agent about them and he sent Fire the record. A day later, he [James Nicholls at Fire Records] wrote me that he really loved it and he sent me a really beautiful email. I just got a good feel from James at Fire and decided to work with them.

Getting back to the record, your lyrics are just awesome. They have such specificity, really showing off your storytelling skills. What is your songwriting process?

A lot of it’s about like romantic situations, but I also write about people a lot. I studied anthropology in college and my dad’s a New York city tour guide. I’ve always been like very observant and curious of people. “Alien” is completely made up. It’s just about like feeling safe with someone, but it’s not a particular person. I teach kids music and they say “Go off king” a lot so I thought it’d be cool to have that in the song.

What has it been like to be back on the road post COVID performing again?

The first tour I did since COVID was with Sean Nicholas Savage, and I got COVID. It is intense that we’re all doing this because the risk of getting sick is so high. I got sick for doing my job.

The audiences have been a little less than usual. But the audience seemed excited. The last tour I did, I was solo and that was a new thing for me. I used backing tracks, but people seemed to like it. It’s scary. You can get sick or it’s just going to cost a lot of money because gas is so freaking expensive.

Do you still feel that touring is worth it?

I do. It’s still what I love the most. I had such an amazing time with Sean. I’m a big fan of his music, so it was worth it for me.

Now for a few quickfire questions. If you had to like recommend a meal to eat while listening to the album, what meal would it be?

A nice vegetable ramen soup.

If you could send this album to any musician alive or dead with the guarantee that they would listen to it, who would you send it to and why?

I would send it to Lou Reed because he was one of my first influences. I’d love to hear his cranky response.

What’s your favorite city that you’ve ever played in?

Definitely Bordeaux in France. The crowd was incredible. Everyone was so into it, and they were singing along, and it was the most excited crowd I’ve ever seen.

A few weeks ago, Frankie Cosmos announced their fourth album with a brand new single and video, “Windows“. Described as “a manifestation of the band’s collaborative spirit”, the record was recorded at Brooklyn’s Figure 8 Studios and engineered and co-produced by Gabe Wax. They’re now back with a new song, “Rings (On A Tree)”, which initially appeared in Haunted Items, a digital-only collection of stripped-down songs for the piano that was released earlier this year. The track was re-recorded in a full band configuration for the album.

About the new single, Greta Kline detailed:

[su_quote][It’s] a fictional tale of a breakup from the point of view of a mistress. After I wrote it I realized what it meant to me– even though I’ve never been a mistress, I related to the character from being in a relationship where my feelings weren’t prioritized. I originally wrote it just on piano and released the solo version that way. The band version really takes it somewhere else and felt very collaborative. I love everyone’s parts. Alex wrote the funky guitar part I play in the middle section, based on an idea Luke and Lauren verbalized.[/su_quote]

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW9exDhzIyw&feature=youtu.be”]

Frankie Cosmos will also be on tour very soon. Check their itinerary below:

Sep. 18 – Boston, MA – Royale

Sep. 19 – Burlington, VT – Arts Riot

Sep. 20 – Montreal, QC – L’Astral

Sep. 21 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern

Sep. 22 – Detroit, MI – Deluxx Fluxx

Sep. 23 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall

Sep. 25 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups

Sep. 26 – Pittsburgh, PA – Spirit Hall

Sep. 27 – Washington, DC – Black Cat

Sep. 28 – Philadelphia, PA – PhilaMOCA

Sep. 29 – New York, NY – Webster Hall

Oct. 08 – Munich, DE – Heppel & Ettlich

Oct. 09 – Vienna, AT – Chelsea

Oct. 10 – Prague, CZ – Underdogs’

Oct. 11 – Cologne, DE – MTC

Oct. 12 – Luxembourg, LU – Rotondes

Oct. 13 – Amsterdam, NL – Bitterzoet

Oct. 14 – Paris, FR – Badaboum

Oct. 15 – Reims, FR – La Cartonnerie

Oct. 16 – Brighton, UK – The Haunt

Oct. 17 – Bristol, UK – Exchange

Oct. 19 – Leeds, UK – Belgrave Music Hall

Oct. 20 – Sheffield, UK – Delicious Clam (Sold Out)

Oct. 21 – Manchester, UK – Night & Day

Oct. 22 – London, UK – Islington Assembly Hall

Oct. 31 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom

Nov. 01 – Tacoma, WA – Alma Mater

Nov. 02 – Vancouver, BC – Hollywood Theatre

Nov. 03 – Seattle, WA – Laser Dome @ Pacific Science Center

Nov. 07 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater

Nov. 08 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge

Nov. 10 – Tucson, AZ – Hotel Congress

Nov. 12 – Anaheim, CA – Chain Reaction

Nov. 13 – San Diego, CA – Che Cafe

Nov. 15 – Los Angeles, CA – 1720

Nov. 16 – Berkeley, CA – The UC Theatre

Frankie Cosmos are what we can call a prolific band. When we started this blog back in 2015, they had just released their debut album Zentropy. Since then, the New York band has already unveiled 4 full-length albums as well as a few EPs on the side. They indeed go faster than us: we still have only one blog. One year after Vessel and a few months after their Haunted Items singles collection, they have now announced a brand new record, Close It Quietly, and shared the lead single “Windows”. For this new project, the band, usually fronted by Greta Kline, will rely more on its other members as longtime bandmates Lauren Martin, Luke Pyenson, and Alex Bailey will contribute more.

Coming with an Eliza Doyle and Greta Kline-directed video, the lead single “Windows” is a song about self-improvement and forgiveness. As Kline explained:

[su_quote]This song takes place during the waiting period of healing, not knowing how to proceed or how to find the path to forgiveness. The inner versus the outer- learning to see yourself as part of the whole. For me the lyrics cover some of the slow movements of relationships, the shifts that occur in ways of thinking over time.[/su_quote]

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CxmXgOgjbQ”]

First, no one can be objective, there’s no truth in music. Then, it can be mentally difficult for artists to accept these insights. We are music fans above all and we never want to hurt anyone. Our goal is only to discover new talents and to bring them to our readers’ ears. We know they don’t always have the time to listen to everything we scan and write about during the year so these lists are just recommendations of what they should first focus on. Nothing more.

We know it’s a shared subjective feeling: 2018 has been another great year for music. We got introduced to fascinating newcomers with strong concepts that prove that albums are certainly not dead yet. Some rising singer-songwriters confirmed their defining style while a few established artists successfully re-recorded their masterpiece or explored challenging new soundscapes. You can find below the 30 albums that made 2018 according to our staff and stay tuned for our usual 100 Tracks of the year list next week.

30) Amen Dunes – Freedom

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29) Kadhja Bonet – Childqueen

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28) Yves Tumor – Safe in the Hands of Love

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27) Whitney Ballen – You’re A Shooting Star, I’m A Sinking Ship

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26) Tirzah – Devotion

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25) CupcakKe – Eden

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24) Rosalía – El Mal Querer

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23) Tomberlin – At Weddings

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22) Sidney Gish – No Dogs Allowed

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21) Ezra Furman – Transangelic Exodus

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20) Kali Uchis – Isolation

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19) Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer

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18) Frankie Cosmos – Vessel

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17) U.S. Girls – In A Poem Unlimited

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16) Ariana Grande – Sweetener

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15) Ex:Re – Ex:Re

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14) Car Seat Headrest – Twin Fantasy

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13) Tierra Whack – Whack World

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12) IDLES – Joy As An Act of Resistance.

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11) illuminaties hoties – Kiss Yr Frenemies

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10) Mr Twin Sister – Salt

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9) SOPHIE – Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Sides

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8) Low – Double Negative

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7) noname – Room 25

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6) Soccer Mommy – Clean

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5) Beach House – 7

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4) Robyn – Honey

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3) Lucy Dacus – Historian

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2) Snail Mail – Lush

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1) Mitski – Be The Cowboy

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Earlier this year, Frankie Cosmos, the band headed by Greta Kline, shared their third album “Vessel“. Taken from this LP, here’s the Eliza Doyle-directed visuals for the track “Duet”. It features Kline who is looking for some company, trying to turn a CPR mannequin into a human being; it’s both sad and fun and perfectly fits the spirit of the track. Watch Frankie Cosmos‘ new video and check out their upcoming gigs dates below.

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnMVus3hrWw”]

Jul. 27 – Denver, CO – Underground Music Showcase

Jul. 28 – Denver, CO – Underground Music Showcase

Jul. 29 – Denver, CO – Underground Music Showcase

Aug. 17 – Paredes de Coura, PT – Vodafone Paredes de Coura

Aug. 19 – Brecon Beacons, UK – Green Man Festival

Aug. 21 – Belfast, UK – Voodoo Belfast !

Aug. 22 – Galway, IE – Roisin Dubh !

Aug. 23 – Dublin, IE – Button Factory !

Sep. 13 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar *

Sep. 14 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall *

Sep. 15 – Asheville, NC – Mothlight *

Sep. 16 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade *

Sep. 17 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn Birmingham *

Sep. 19 – New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa *

Sep. 20 – Houston, TX – Satellite Bar *

Sep. 21 – San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger *

Sep. 22 – Austin, TX – Barracuda *

Sep. 23 – Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum Art Company *

Sep. 24 – Oklahoma, OK – Tower Theater *

Sep. 26 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line Music Cafe *

Sep. 27 – Milwaukee, WI – Back Room @ Collectivo Coffee *

Sep. 29 – Champaign, IL – Pygmalion Festival

Sep. 30 – Detroit, MI – El Club *

Oct. 01 – Cleveland Heights, OH – Grog Shop *

Oct. 02 – Pittsburgh, PA – Cattivo *

Oct. 03 – Harrisburg, PA – Stage on Herr *

Oct. 05 – Jersey City, NJ – White Eagle Hall *

Oct. 06 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg *

Oct. 07 – New York City, NY – Bowery Ballroom *

Nov. 02 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater ^

Nov. 03 – Long Beach, CA – Tropicalia Festival ^

Nov. 05 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore ^

Nov. 08 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom ^

Nov. 09 – Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret ^

Nov. 10 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre ^

! w/ Squarehead

* w/ Lomelda & Stef Chura

^ w/ Kero Kero Bonito

Frankie Cosmos have shared their last album “Vessel” in March and there’s now a Tom Scharpling-directed (“The Best Show”) video to come with the highlight “Apathy.” In the visuals, a tough band named Frankie Cosmos is rehearsing before realizing the name is already used by another band and confronting them.

About the video, Frankie Cosmos‘ Greta Kline stated:

[su_quote]I am a huge fan of Tom Scharpling’s work and was so thrilled that we got to work together on this video. I trusted him entirely and just wanted to let Tom and his team do their thing. We had so much fun making it…I was laughing so much that it probably took much longer than it should have to shoot my parts.[/su_quote]

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc3JanvAgz8″]

Frankie Cosmos are in the middle of their US tour and will then come to Europe. Check their full itinerary below:

Apr. 30 – Pawtucket, RI – The Met !

May 01 – New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place !

May 02 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair *

May 03 – Burlington, VT – ArtsRiot *

May 04 – Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount *

May 05 – Toronto, ON – The Rec Room *

May 06 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Pyramid Scheme

May 07 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall *

May 09 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East*

May 10 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle (Back Room)*

May 11 – Richmond, VA – Capital Ale House*

May 12 – Washington, DC – Black Cat *

May 13 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer *

May 22 – Berlin, DE – Kantine am Berghain

May 23 – Hamburg, DE – Aalhaus

May 24 – Ghent, BE – DOKbox

May 25 – Amsterdam, NL – London Calling at Paradiso (Small Hall)

May 26 – Paris, France – Petit Bain

May 28 – Manchester, UK – Gorilla

May 29 – Glasgow, UK – The Art School

May 30 – Bristol, UK – The Fleece

May 31 – London, UK – Scala

Jun. 01 – Lille, France – Aeronef

Jun. 03 – Nantes, France – Stereolux

Jun .04 – Lyon, France – Grrrnd Zero

Jun .05 – Turin, Italy – Astoria

Jun. 08 – Queens, NY – Forest Hills Stadium **

Jul. 14 – Madrid, ES – Mad Cool Festival

Jul. 15 – Stirling UK – Doune The Rabbit Hole

Aug. 17 – Paredes De Coura, PT – Vodafone Paredes De Coura

Aug. 19 – Brecon Beacons, UK – Green Man Festival

* w/ La La La & Florist

** w/ Belle & Sebastian, Perfume Genius

! w/ Nadine

Much like (Sandy) Alex G or Car Seat Headrest, Frankie Cosmos’ Greta Kline began to gain a cult following long before she was signed to a major label. At age 20, she had already released dozens of albums under different monikers – according to the promo bio for “Vessel”, she’s done more than fifty now, and I certainly wouldn’t suggest clicking on her Bandcamp profile if you’re prone to feeling down over procrastinating. Greta Kline is notoriously famous for permeating every single aspect of her art with an endearingly twee charm that is nevertheless brimming with darker undertones. A picture of her dog wearing a green hat was turned into the album cover for the first Frankie Cosmos record, but it was hardly meant to be taken as a suggestion of light-hearted indie pop in the vein of, say, Best Coast – the album, whose closing track was titled “Sad”, was actually an eulogy for Kline’s pet.

Her album titles are also strong with the twee side (a few of my personal favourites include “sunshine over intertwined feelings”, “and it made me cry for a long time” and “i dont like crying and much ado about fucking”), but ever since she started to release music under her Frankie Cosmos moniker she has been keeping things relatively low-key: the band’s debut was simply titled “Zentropy”, and they went with the foolproof “adjective + noun” trope for 2016’s “Next Thing”. That’s not to say that she’s been cutting down on the tweeness, though – at its core, Kline’s music has pretty much remained the same equally wistful and catchy, guitar-heavy indie pop that she has been putting out since she was 15, and “Vessel” successfully follows that trend.

Frankie Cosmos’ major label debut mounts a strong case for Greta Kline as one of the most gifted indie pop songwriters of her generation

“Vessel” is Frankie Cosmos’ third studio album and the first one for the renowned Seattle label Sub Pop, which means that they’ve got a bigger production budget to work with. “Vessel” definitely sounds more professional than her past output, but it’s still an album that makes the most out of its rough edges. Kline’s music has always been informed by its DIY, lo-fi aesthetic, and that’s still very much present in “Vessel” – take “The End”, one of the strongest songs on the album, which is a demo recorded on Kline’s laptop left untouched for the final tracklist. There is definitely something to be said about the production in this album – it is noticeably slicker and sharper than in previous Frankie Cosmos releases, and there are certain bits that could have never made it in Kline’s Bandcamp output, but it manages to retain that sense of immediacy and confidentiality that made her a household name in the bedroom pop world in the first place.

Thoroughly informed by its anything-goes ethos, “Vessel” can feel like a 2018 version of “Alien Lanes” or “Bee Thousand” at points. Listen to songs like “As Often As I Can”, “My Phone” or “The End” and you’ll probably think they were written, played and recorded in the same take. Some of these songs don’t even qualify as songs in the traditional sense – the half a minute long “Ur Up” is comprised of a single verse and includes a false start with Kline fucking up the piano part and starting again. It’s a bummer that she didn’t take the time to develop it into a more fully fleshed out song, but that’s the kind of endearing allure that has turned outsider musicians like Daniel Johnston, Bob Pollard or The Space Lady into legends, and it’s not too much of a stretch to think that Kline will one day be mentioned among them.

There’s a spontaneous quality to Kline’s songwriting, as if she was making the songs up as she sang them. “Vessel” is basically an album made up of indie pop nursery rhymes with the occasional swear word thrown in here and there, yet it boasts certain proficient airs that hadn’t showed up in her work before. On paper, Kline’s songs are too brief to even try to change their course. Only the opening track “Caramelize” and the self-titled closer surpass the three minute mark, and more than half of these songs aren’t even two minutes long. Yet Kline’s songwriting has grown relatively complex and intricate for the genre’s standards – whereas her earlier work was almost a solo affaire, this time round she brought her songs to the rest of the band and they all fleshed them out together, which should provide a satisfying explanation for the Moog-lead instrumental breakdown on “Duet” or for the final sing-along on album highlight “Being Alive”, where every band member has a go at the song’s chorus.

At points, Kline’s lyrical straightforwardness can get too on-the-nose. Lines like “when the heart gets too tender / return it to the sender” or “being alive matters quite a bit / even when you feel like shit” are kinda cringeworthy on paper, but they take on a different character when sung by Kline, whose vocal delivery is as doe-eyed and charming as it can possibly get. It also helps that pretty much every song has a monster hook in it. The eighteen songs that comprise Vessel are essentially pills too hard to swallow gradually being glossed up to death until they slide down your throat – and when they finally do, it’s a glorious feeling. Certainly her strongest and most consistent album to date, Frankie Cosmos’ major label debut mounts a strong case for Greta Kline as one of the most gifted indie pop songwriters of her generation.

Joined by bassist/vocalist David Maine, keyboardist/vocalist Lauren Martin and drummer Luke Pyenson, the lead-singer and songwriter got to shape their 18-track opus. The album comes after “Zentropy” and “Next Thing”, her previous two LPs. In the video, you get to follow an animated gif of a dog trying to enter a bath, that reminds the art cover of the album that you can check below.

[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g895FWaEVrU&feature=youtu.be”]

Frankie Cosmos’ “Vessel” is set to be released on March 30 via Sub Pop Records and you can check the tracklisting below.

“Vessel” tracklisting:

1. Caramelize

2. Apathy

3. As Often as I Can

4. This Stuff

5. Jesse

6. Duet

7. Accommodate

8. I’m Fried

9. Hereby

10. Ballad of R & J

11. Ur Up

12. Being Alive

13. Bus Bus Train Train

14. My Phone

15. Cafeteria

16. The End

17. Same Thing

18. Vessel