“Promises to build on the foundations of previous releases (think late 90s alt rock meets contemporary indie pop) and expand the Simple Shapes sound in new directions.” So we wrote of Sundial, the forthcoming album from Portland indie rockers Simple Shapes back in July, with lead single ‘Mallard’ introducing the loud-quiet dynamic which underpins it. “[The song] opens with a spry and sunny energy before erupting into yelled vocals and blasts of noisy emotion,” we wrote, “effortlessly moving between the two until a final cathartic denouement.”
With the record out now via Rue Defense, Simple Shapes have shared new single ‘I’ve Never Learned a Lesson’. The song encapsulates the themes of the album as a whole, exploring nostalgia in all of its contradictions, the past a place full of allure yet not exactly one you’d want to experience again. The project has always aimed to combine late nineties/early noughties indie rock sensibilities with contemporary production and here Pete Bensen (guitar/vocals), Quin Saunders (bass), Justine Yee (guitar), Jeremiah Larsen (drums) and JJ Shafe (synth/vocals) are firing on all cylinders. A band that should appeal as much to fans of Archers of Loaf as those of of MJ Lenderman, and which appears to have fully found their groove.
