Premiere: Polaroids Of Polarbears Unveils Self-Titled Collection

Feilding-based songwriter Daniel Brown (of Churlington) has unveiled a self-titled new collection from his lo-fi guitar-pop solo project Polaroids of Polarbears, the artist's first release since 2016's 'Brown Boxes' single which also appears on the EP. Crammed full of fuzzed-out guitars, spine-tingling melodies and instantly infectious choruses, the DIY collection (recorded in Brown's shed) features student radio favourite 'We Choose To Sink Happily' along with seven more exceptionally catchy tracks we're psyched to premiere here. We had to know more about Brown's enigmatic project and caught up with the artist via email, who kindly shared his thoughts around the new release from his Manawatu base of operations. Listen to Polaroids of Polarbears and read Brown's insights into his entirely self-recorded collection below...

"Creating Polaroids new EP (Polaroids of Polarbears 2019) was a conscious decision. Having downtime from my other band (I am the vocalist for Churlington) I decided to record a few of the little tunes I had been writing on an acoustic (my standard process, sit in front of TV with kids… strum chords… like chords… kids tell me to be quiet… I go record strummed chords). I recalled some of the albums, tracks and bands that I loved from my musical awakening… Slowdive, The Pixies, Sonic Youth. When I finished writing the first song (We Choose To Sink Happily) I noticed that the process felt so natural and easy… and after a couple of hours I had a song that I was not only stoked with… but willing to share. Four weeks later, the EP was recorded.

The low fi aesthetic of Polaroids started from necessity rather than want… but necessity has turned into passion… the passion to make something out of nothing… by doing it yourself… by figuring it all out… I found the mix of having limited gear (vocals were recorded using a microphone bought from Dick Smith in 1995 for $10), limited knowledge and limited ability a safe place to exist and create in.

I have always looked at Polaroids of Polarbears as the dumping ground for songs that never quite fit the aesthetic of the bands I was in. I tended to be critical of them as songs and tucked them away labelling them as “just a muck around… nothing serious”… “songs that someone else could probably make sound better”. It’s fair to say the Polaroid songs held my secret of being incredibly insecure of things I create (or not so secret). I love the process and freedom of creating songs that are written, played and recorded purely on my own... in my own time and in the style that I wanted… not what I thought I needed to, but what I wanted… but the thought of having others hear these songs… was the most frightening thought. Still is.

The idea of playing Polaroids of Polarbears live was never something that seemed like it would or should happen. However I have recently made contact with a few friends from other bands and we are going to get together and play a few shows in May 2019 to see how they feel, with the aim to keep going throughout 2019.

Living in Feilding, recording in my shed… in the evening once my kids are in bed (my two girls helped me record the drums tracks… they pressed record and told me when it wasn’t good) is a place I have come to feel comfortable in. Writing these songs was incredibly therapeutic… and sharing them with others… is absolutely terrifying."