San Francisco’s surf pop psychedelic collective Light Fantastic has been hard at work on their debut album, Out of View. Now that the release date is finally approaching, we have another fun surprise for you. It’s time to check out the exclusive premiere of their single “To The Center”.
Swirling, intense but lazy guitar chords swirl around ethereal vocals replete with reverb. Tambourine hits to add to the strong percussion undercurrent. The lyrics are almost indecipherable above the instrumentals, but that’s not altogether a bad thing. There is a vintage, transitional vibe to this song that has us latching on to the warm weather feelings for dear life.
Frontman Terry Sowers had a bit to say about the track itself.
I found myself in a big life transition, looking for a new job and in a new relationship, spending many of my days wandering around Sonoma, drinking free wine, falling for someone new, sleeping in, and trying to figure out what I was going to do next. It was September and at the same time my friend Rex Shelverton was just coming off tour with Tamaryn and wanted to start work producing the Light Fantastic LP. I gave him a place to stay in my San Francisco apartment in exchange for production and this was the newest song I had written so in many ways set the tone.
This one was about my own recovery—mostly from a previous relationship, but I also realized it was about all the change around me and this feeling I get every year around this time so we had tentatively called it “September”. While I had worked out most of the lyrics, I read about the significance of the fall equinox, and the symbolism was profound. It’s a very pagan sort of ritual. Despite that I had wanted to write a light-hearted ode to summer kind of record similar to our EP, the overall vibe of Out of View turned out a little darker than planned.
California is an idyllic place but there also a lot of ghosts—the girl I was seeing in Sonoma lived amongst these expansive vineyards on a perfectly manicured property. But there was also an old graveyard from the 19th century right across the street. That’s the art taking over, working through your actual life. To the Center, it wasn’t just me who was trying to find my center, I felt we all were and it was just my asking for permission from the universe to move forward and let go. Rex later joined as guitar player for the band—so the band was also changing—and we spent the next several months drinking tea, surfing, and spending late nights in the studio back in San Francisco making Out of View.
Out of View comes out October 7th via Spiritual Pajamas.
