Over The Atlantic
About Over The Atlantic from Wellington
Wellington's Over the Atlantic are back in NZ after a 4 month headline tour of USA, England, Scotland, Germany, France, Belgium and The Netherlands, and are stoked to announce the release of their second album 'Dimensions' on November 17.
In 2006 the band was signed to the prestigious USA Carpark/PawTracks family of labels before they'd even played a single show, demonstrating the strength of their first album, Junica. This meant they were label-buddies with Beach House, Dan Deacon, Animal Collective and Ariel Pink, among others, and they toured a string of well received shows around USA & Canada with Beach House to celebrate the release. Highlights included playing to a full house in LA with Ariel Pink and to 1000 people with Animal Collective's Avery Tare at the legendary Tonic venue in NYC.
Junica received glowing worldwide reviews. Right here at home, Tom Cardy of The Dominion Post called it "the best debut album from a New Zealand band in a long time". International media raved about it; V Magazine listed it among their top 30 international albums of 2006, while Advance Copy said Junica was "the best thing I've heard from New Zealand since, you know, Split Enz".
Over the Atlantic songs are written by Nik Brinkman and lovingly produced by Bevan Smith, two of the most intriguing musicians in New Zealand.
From nomination for Best Unreleased Song at the Bnet Awards when he was just 16, to now, Nik Brinkman is emerging as one of the most important and innovative modern songwriters in New Zealand. Even his side-project Psychic Powers (with LA-based Alejandro Cohen) has been signed to uber-awesome USA label Geographic North with the promise of a glow-in-the-dark 12" record scheduled for release before the end of this year.
Once writing and recording is finished, Brinkman hands the tracks over to Bevan Smith who then skillfully crafts the tracks into the final compositions you hear on record. Smith, an ex-New Plymouth bloke, has been releasing critically acclaimed music internationally for many years as solo acts Signer and Aspen, and as one-half of Skallander.
Upon the first listen of Dimensions, it's easy to hear the maturity and sense of place that has evolved since Junica. It shows influence from a variety of styles and genres. Whether it's the current R'n'B beats and production aesthetics of Justin Timberlake and Rihanna, the 80's new wave anthems of OMD, Kate Bush and the Psychedelic Furs, or even the classic pop of Crowded House and shoegazing lullabies of The Cocteau Twins, Over the Atlantic merge a myriad of subtle styles, to produce a sound that is simply pop.
When performing live, Over the Atlantic make little effort to replicate their recordings. They realise that the studio and the live venue are two totally different environments, each with perceived strengths and weaknesses. The live performance of some songs in particular only have a bare, fleeting resemblance to the recordings, which are just used as a starting point. The freedom of live expression and ongoing development of ideas is more important than 'doing a show that sounds just like the album'.
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great album!