“I’m trying to be a little calmer / trying to find all my good thoughts / Maybe they are around the corner.” So sings Yael S. Copeland on her debut solo album, Mellow Submarine, released on cassette by Ghost Mountain Records. The apparently simple sentiment captures the nuances of Copeland’s new project. Having made her name fronting danceable indie pop outfit Borito, Mellow Submarine sees the Tel Aviv-based songwriter offer a more reflective, introspective tone, a conscious attempt to be calmer in her work. Though as implied by the following lines, such intentions require real work, not least due to the environment in which the album came into being. The unstable and often violent political situation in Israel is just one such instance in an increasingly unjust world, not to mention the dawning climate catastrophe which reveals itself more with every passing day.
Though Mellow Submarine might offer calmer tone to the Borito sound, it also sees Yael S. Copeland engage with such worries far more directly. A decision to face up to the things which prove so unnerving within the contemporary moment, be it the collective helplessness experienced amid the unnatural heat of Tel Aviv’s recent summers (‘Over’) or more personal themes of social anxiety (‘metoo’) and relationships (‘Death to My Ladies Man’). But thanks to her intimate, dusk-hued sound, Copeland emerges through everything with a sense of hope intact. Unable to lose the romantic notion that things can be different, can improve. Mellow Submarine looks for good thoughts amid the chaos, and might just have you believing they are just around the corner after all.
We took the opportunity to speak with Yael S. Copeland in order to delve a little deeper into the album:
Hi Yael, thanks so much for speaking with us, and congratulations on Mellow Submarine! How does it feel to be letting your debut album free into the world?
Hello, very happy to share a little about my debut. Love Various Small Flames so this is extra special 🙂
I feel good releasing my solo debut. I’ve been creating and performing more seriously for the past couple of years so I felt ready for this moment. Especially after experiencing it with my band Borito. Being a musician during a time of a release can be tough so I’m happy to move back to a more creative space while still caring for and sharing Mellow Submarine.
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How did the process of a solo album differ from that with Borito? Did you feel you were exploring new ground with this project?
I love being in a band and the special connection we have when playing together in a room. Like the other members I have different aspects that I wanted to explore as an artist. If it’s moving more towards producing on my own or musical genres and sounds I haven’t yet created with. I wanted to make music that reflects a more intimate side of myself. The side that exists in my room. Maybe a bit more melancholic, more anxious but also has a romantic view on the world.
Borito was released in the midst of the pandemic and it has a more escapist quality. I find that super important but like everyone else sometimes we just want to dance and forget and sometimes we want to face life, the world, ourselves.
Despite what the title might suggest, I think it’s fair to say Mellow Submarine is an anxious record? From the personal social anxiety of ‘metoo’ to global pandemics and the climate emergency, uncertainty is baked into each song. Could you speak a little on why you choose to face up to these worries so directly, especially with a sound that’s so wistful and warm?
I haven’t thought of the record in that way but I completely understand why that comes across. I do deal with anxieties. Social ones, ones that stem from the climate crisis and ones that stem from the issues that we deal with in Israel.
I do think that the album is very much my point of view on these issues. My way to deal with adulting in a world with an unknown future. I think for a lot of songwriters, the process of writing is therapeutic. It is a way to process these fears and anxieties, to control the narrative and to express fantasies that are not possible in real life. Maybe that’s why the album is also warm and wistful. Maybe I’m romanitizicing these problems, because it makes it easier to deal with.
Do you feel differently now, having written the songs? The final line of opening track ‘over’ really caught my attention. “Why should I care of the present,” as you ask, “if I don’t have a future to remember it as my past?” But the fact that it’s the first song seems important too. As though the rest of the record is trying to answer your own question, find reasons to live?
As I said in the previous question, I feel differently after each song I write because it allows me to view the situation from a spectator point of view. When I wrote ‘Over’, which was written on a very hot summer day in Tel Aviv, I was dealing with the thought that the climate crisis is going to be devastating for my generation and future ones. Writing the song gave those thoughts a clear voice. It focused on what was scary about it. I do believe in that line I wrote but I would like to offer a more hopeful message, that is an understanding that: I should be present in my life, cause right now I am here. As Lenny Kravitz said “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
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Could we talk a little about influences? Is it fair to say there’s an American flavour to the sound? What artists do you draw on when making your own music? And are you inspired by non-musical things too?
I am currently based in Tel Aviv and I grew up in Israel. My parents moved here from the US when they were younger, wanting to start a family here. My identity is very much influenced by the American home I was brought up in. I grew up on American classic rock. some might say “Dad Rock”. Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Randy Newman are just some of the storytellers I would listen to at home. This album and hopefully future songs under my solo project are a way to get back to folk and the amazing songwriters I heard in a new modern way.
The changes and uncertainty that are a part of our lives nowadays affected music and brought some new interpretations to the world of folk and Americana which I love. I am drawn to mix these classic influences with new voices, new sounds that lean more towards freak folk/lo-fi aesthetic. Alex G, Elvis Depressedly, Car Seat Headrest are some of the names that lead these trends. I’ll also mention Adrianne Lenker (Big Thief) who in my mind is one of the best songwriters of recent years and Natalie Bergman who put out a beautiful album called Mercy.
Which brings us onto Ghost Mountain Records. How did that relationship come about? And do you know what’s next for your music?
I actually started talking to Andrew from Ghost Mountain on IG. It’s amazing that today it doesn’t matter as much where you physically are. Andrew is wonderful and helped me a lot with the release. In terms of the label—the main focus is cassette tapes, and that’s what we did for Mellow Submarine! On April 7th they will be released on Bandcamp and they are shimmering gold and perfect for the twilight vibe of the album.
In terms of what’s next – I am travelling with my band Borito to NXNE, a showcase in Toronto, Canada this June. After I am planning to travel to NY and maybe some other places in the U.S. Would love to be where a lot of my inspirations create their own music. I feel like now that the album is out I am able to start writing again so hopefully new music soon. Also a new album from Borito this year. You are invited to follow on social media and stay updated 🙂
Mellow Submarine is out now digitally on the Yael S. Copeland Bandcamp page, with cassettes coming via Ghost Mountain Records on the 7th April.
Photos by Edo Asoulin, album art photo by Yuval Rozin, album design by Yael S. Copeland