The vocal powerhouse behind "metalgaze" outfit Dust Moth and a frequent collaborator with Erik Blood (check out photos from their transcendent KEXP in-studio session here), Seattle native Irene F. Barber records solo under the name Nearby. Sonically, it’s a notable departure from her headier, heavier work with Dust Moth, Barber’s sweet-but-eerie voice sitting atop a mille-feuille of textures and darkness.
She’s as brooding as ever, but here dance-y beats, peppy hand-claps, and raw production deliver a fresher, more urgent sound than ever, her repetitious lyrical phrasing (“Wake me up/I’d drown in the waves for you/how can I get back to you?”) propelling the track forward. A compelling curveball from a musical explorer.
Watch a video for today's featured track below, a dreamy clip that captures a day at the beach with Peaches Tokio, a blind puppy. The video "visually imagines Peaches’ non-visual world of texture, shape, movement, and sound." And watch Nearby perform the track in the KEXP studios, recorded back in August. Keep up with news and live dates from Nearby via Bandcamp and Twitter.
