Premiere: Photo Ops, ‘Palm Trees’

Kevin Bronson on April 9th, 2019

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The beach is Southern California’s greatest feint — a place of spectacular natural beauty, as populated by those who would consume it like a trinket purchased at a curio shop. It’s an apt metaphor for singer-songwriter Terry Price’s music as Photo Ops, ethereal folk-pop as welcoming as a sea breeze but seemingly carrying the weight of world. In a way, his songs are glossy postcards with gentle rebukes scribbled on back.

The beach is the setting for Photo Ops’ new single “Palm Trees.” “Sailboats on the horizon / they don’t mean a thing,” he sings beautifully but blankly, with an acoustic guitar echoing on the horizon. “One nice thing about L.A. is that when you go to the beach, you are forced to reckon with profound wealth on display,” Price says. “This song is about trying to disentangle natural beauty from conspicuous consumption. And missing your friends.”

It’s the second single following up Photo Ops’ 2016 album “Vacation.” A new record, “Pure at Heart,” Price’s third as Photo Ops and the first since he left Nashville in 2017 for Southern California for a change of scenery in the wake of personal turmoil, is on the way. The album, being produced long-distance by Nashville producer Patrick Damphier (Jessica Lea Mayfield, Mynabirds, Fences, Aaron Lee Tasjan, The Arcs), is expected to be released later this year.

||| Stream: “Palm Trees”