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.
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.
