Stream: Cullen Omori, ‘Synthetic Romance’

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Cullen Omori (Photo by Alexa Lopez)
Cullen Omori (Photo by Alexa Lopez)

After Chicago outfit Smith Westerns split in 2014 after a three-album run, frontman Cullen Omori had some soul-searching to do. However, his was not the typical quarter-life crisis. Any first world twenty-something trying to find himself would kill for seven years in a critically acclaimed band – or a trip to Europe. But beggars can’t be choosers. Fearful of being completely defined by Smith Westerns, Omori wants to use the band’s success as a path to something better. “Instead of having the Smith Westerns experience be some cool trophy of my life, I decided I’d rather use it to do something more representative of myself as a whole,” he says.

Now Cullen Omori is prepping for the March 18 release of his debut solo album, “New Misery,” via Sub Pop. He’s already released a hearty preview with “Sour Silk,” a video for “Cinnamon,” and now “Synthetic Romance.” All three songs are dark and dreamy psychedelic pop with a touch of Smith Westerns heard in them. The video for “Cinnamon,” directed by Abigail Briley Bean, features a catatonic Cullen Omori in a psych ward – until he strolls out like a boss and cheekily burns some Smith Westerns posters. See what he did there?

||| Stream: “Synthetic Romance” and “Sour Silk”

||| Watch: The video for “Cinnamon”

||| Live: Cullen Omori plays Teragram Ballroom on April 7, with Golden Daze opening.