Video premiere: People on People, ‘Only Heaven’

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People on People, from the
People on People, from the "Only Heaven" video

Los Angeles-based duo Darian Zahedi and Jonathan Safley last released music in 2014, when they were the core of the Reflections (overlooked gem alert, “Limerence”). Life events “sort of brought everything to a crashing halt,” Zahedi says, so the duo took some time off, dabbled in other pursuits, but kept demoing songs — even as they were brought on to play in CRX, the band assembled by Nick Valensi of the Strokes.

The new songs diverged in sound from their old band, so they christened the project People on People. And last week, without the fanfare it deserved, the duo released their debut EP, “Only Heaven.” Theirs are soundscapes for wide-open spaces and postcard views, equally reliant on almost dangerously sweeping synths, precise guitars and celestial choruses. It’s reminiscent at times of Portland’s the Helio Sequence.

The EP, made with engineer/co-producer Matthew Faulkner, finds the duo trading off instruments (though Safley plays all the drums, and Zahedi sings lead on all tracks except the closer). Its opener “Never Let You Go” fuels the fires of hopeless romantics; the guitar outro on “Delta” quickens the pulse; and “Fugitive” stirs in a little ’80s cheese. The title track, meanwhile, paints a idyllic picture of “moonlight dancing on the trees.” “I feel the end of emptiness / sweeping over the hills from the west,” Zahedi sings.

The video for “Only Heaven,” directed by Andre Pinces, is a nifty straight-outta-Hollywood piece. Zahedi and Safley cruise around in a sports car and enjoy the vistas, while a woman, portrayed by C.C. Sheffield, sits at home, mesmerized, watching the song on TV. Because, after all, heaven can be one place or the other.

||| Watch: The video for “Only Heaven”

||| Also: Stream the whole EP on Spotify