The Portland-based “super duo” Corvair comprised of Brian Naubert (Ruston Mire, Tube Top, Pop Sickle, The Service Providers) and Heather Larimer (Eux Autres), have shared the official video for Oceansided. The track is lifted from their self-titled debut album which is out now (order / stream). You can watch the Oceansided video, which was directed, shot and edited by the band via Youtube below.
Corvair’s Heather Larimer says, “Oceansided is a triumphant power pop anthem about optimism, written by two natural cynics. The song is a shimmering cocktail of soft/hard juxtapositions: taut 70’s guitars vs spacey synths, muscular analog percussion vs puffy electronic beats, and lushly layered boy/girl multipart harmonies.” Brian Naubert notes that it’s the first song he’s ever written in which the chorus is only major chords. “It’s a deceptively simple song, kind of a collision between AC/DC and Free To Be You and Me. The backbone is just a Gibson guitar playing with zero effects through a Benson amp. But when we lay all these opposing elements over it, it becomes really textural and satisfying.”
Combined, Brian and Heather have created or performed on more than twenty albums. But this album marks the first time they join forces on a musical project. Although the band started in 2019, their eponymous debut album was largely created during the COVID pandemic shut-down of spring 2020. “Recording and writing new music without the benefit of testing ideas in front of a live audience was strange,” says Brian. “But ultimately, it gave us the freedom to really play with ideas and explore things we hadn’t ever tried before.”
‘Corvair’ track listing
1. Oceansided
2. Paladin
3. Sailor Down
4. Daily Double
5. Sunday Runner
6. Green (Mean Time)
7. Focus Puller
8. Tied Island
9. Unsubtle Lake
10. Three Stars
More about Corvair
Threading together 70’s pop, 80’s synth rock and 90’s indie rock, influences from The Carpenters to ELO, Cheap Trick to Metric, Corvair somehow sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard and everything you’ve always loved.
This power pop duo attributes their sudden explosion of compelling songwriting to the fact they have been friends who watched each other’s musical trajectories for many years, but only recently decided to collaborate in music and in life by getting married. “I first met Brian in the 90’s at the NXNW festival when he was in a much-hyped Peter Buck-produced band called Tube Top” says Heather. Brian adds, “We hit it off instantly but we danced around the relationship idea for many years. Right after we got married in 2017, I did a 30-day songwriting challenge where I wrote several songs a day, and once I started workshopping the songs with Heather, we realized we had a great record on our hands.”
Corvair’s debut album includes work with drummer Eric Eagle (Jesse Sykes, Wayne Horvitz) and engineer Martin Feveyear (Brandi Carlile, Mark Lanegan, Mudhoney), who also mixed the record. The album is full of anthemic, richly-harmonied songs that narrate the uncertainty and raw emotion of ultra high-stakes love. Brian explains, “These are definitely the most exposed and truthful lyrics we have ever written. And musically, we just went for it. We didn’t try to talk ourselves out of weird moves, like laying some Mamas and Papas style harmonies next to a Cars-esque keyboard solo or aggressive guitar work.” Heather adds, “We are so happy that our first singles have had such a positive response, that our strange cocktail of feelings and sounds is connecting with people who aren’t in the same house as us.”
While the band prepares to assemble a live unit for post-COVID life, they will be releasing more online content in the coming months and recording a second album later this year.
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