S.Lo on August 22nd, 2018

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L.A. locals Jubilo Drive (Jordan Kleinman on lead vocals/guitar, Aaron Shadrow on keys and vocals, Henry Kuckens on guitar, Kalyn Beach on bass, Jacob Lauing on drums and percussion and Sami Shapiro on flute) have released “Look Around,” the third in a trio of singles since re-forming in the wake of losing their original drummer Eric Cruz in a car accident last year.

Produced by the band and mixed and mastered by Shadrow, the avant-pop rocker is full of layered guitars, synths and drums driving the song forward like a locomotive while Kleinman’s earnest melody steers the direction of the train. The song’s hopeful and wistful instrumentation and the vintage footage of the video (directed by Kuckens) featuring happy children and adults convey a longing for past memories, belying the hopelessness, sadness and regret revealed in the lyrics. Kleinman captures the complexity of emotions surrounding grief and the nightmare-inducing lack of control after the tragedy of losing a friend, singing, “I keep dreamin’ that I found a way to bring you back / For three weeks straight I woke up in a terror fraught with unpleasant thoughts / I cannot touch you / But I feel you / You’re with me / I’m feeling better / But then suddenly I’m floored by all the pain.” There isn’t much more one can do but process all those thoughts and emotions to make sense of a senseless loss over time. Writing this song was a way for the band to get through it, as Kleinman reflexively sings after a pause in thought on the bridge (thoughtfully drawn out to 16 bars instead of the usual eight), “It’ll all come one day / It hasn’t been that long / Waiting on the words to form then I will write a song …”

||| Stream: “Look Around” and “Thursday Night Taxi Service”

||| Also: Watch the video for “Look Around”

||| Previously: “Off Satellites”