We wrote about Orchid Mantis, AKA Atlanta-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Thomas Howard, back in 2015 when we described single ‘It Was Gone’ as “a perfect fit for the summer… nostalgia-drenched vocals and the blissed-out pop sound conjuring warm, carefree evenings and hot sticky nights”. Well, luckily for us, Howard has been working on a full-length album since 2014 and will finally release it to the world at the end of the month.
Flashbulb Memory, out via Track & Field Records, consists of eight dreamy, atmospheric songs at the interface of pop, ambient and electronic music. The title suggests we can expect a fair deal of nostalgia and melancholy, and lead single ‘You’ve Been Here Before’ certainly delivers, a misty patchwork of childhood memories in sonic form, simultaneously comforting and haunting, like any youth worth its salt.
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Flashbulb Memory is set for release on the 30th December and you can pre-order it digitally from the Orchid Mantis Bandcamp page or on cassette via Track and Field Records.
