Ears Wide Open: Blond Ambition
Kevin Bronson on
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Blond Ambition is the solo venture of Brian Harding, a principal in Ex Cops, who released two albums of mostly winning indie-pop in 2013 and ’14. The backstory here is that after three years of “living in the woods of upstate New York,” Harding has moved to Los Angeles, and the change in geography certainly informs the new single “Shasta.” The song, Harding says, “was recorded at the top of. Mt Washington during my first week as a resident of Los Angeles. I opened the door — the movie was now in color. ‘Shasta’ is and isn’t a person. It is whatever makes your life worth living and it delivers joy in darkness. ‘Shasta’ is why you get out of bed in the morning and who you end up with at night.”
The sunny, funky psych-pop number is a taste of the full-length Blond Ambition made with producer Andrew Miller and due for release in 2017. “Shasta” follows this summer’s release of two songs, “Hurricanes” and “Confused Forever,” via Brooklyn label Cascine.
||| Stream: “Shasta”
||| Also: Stream “Hurricanes” and “Confused Forever”
||| Also: Watch the video for “Shasta”
||| Live: Blond Ambition performs Wednesday at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs.
[…] ||| Previously: “Stupid Boy/Girl,” “Shasta” […]
[…] of the duo Ex-Cops before moving to L.A. making the brilliant album “Slow All Over” as Blond Ambition) and Andrew Miller (who played guitar in Dum Dum Girls and produced “Slow All Over.”) […]