Jamtronia outfit Lotus have announced a forthcoming studio album of new material to be titled, Free Swim, which is scheduled to arrive later this summer on August 21st. The forthcoming 10-track studio effort will be the band’s first since 2018’s Frames Per Second.
The announcement was shared to the band’s social media pages on Thursday, and bassist Jesse Miller also provided additional background on their latest project in a statement shared to Brooklyn Vegan.
“We went into the studio and recorded live and fast, trying not to overthink it and let natural intuition guide the way – the whistle blew for a free swim and we jumped in,” Miller said of the project’s development. “We had spent about a year writing, rehearsing and refining a large batch of songs, narrowing 25-30 demos down to 18 to record and used 10 on Free Swim. During that time, I was also building up my own studio around a mixing desk from the early 80s and some classic analog gear. That process informed the writing as I was continually mixing the demos and experimenting with synths.”
For the music on the album, the band wanted to capture the freedom and looseness that comes with the act of swimming in the summertime, as Miller continued in explaining,
Luke [Miller] named the track ‘Free Swim’ and I thought it also made a great album name. Free swim can be read a couple of different ways, but I think both can apply to Lotus’s music. The first brings me back to childhood when my mom would drive myself and four brothers to the public pool. The free swim time was pure, unrestrained joy as we soared off the diving boards and burned off excess energy swimming for hours in the summers. The second reading is becoming free while swimming. I picture the feeling of weightlessness in open water in some beautiful, remote location. When we write for Lotus, we try to use the energy of a live show to guide our arrangements. I always hope it can take people to a place that feels joyous, energized and free.
To go with the album’s announcement, the band also shared Free Swim’s lead single with a lively, flute-filled instrumental entitled, “Catacombs”.
Stream the new track in full below.
Lotus – “Catacombs”
[Video: Lotus]
Click here for vinyl and digital album pre-order info.
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