From the depths of one's psyche comes 'It Felt Like The End of the World', the latest album from Pete International Airport, a.k.a. Peter G. Holmström of The Dandy Warhols, released cult label Little Cloud Records. The third album from the Portland artist, this meticulously crafted psychedelic rock journey is a journey into the dark heart of electronica. It is also a triumph of process and vision.
In 2023, PIA also released the singles 'Next of Kin' featuring Lisa Elle of Dark Horses and 'Tic Tac' as a 7" vinyl version featuring Slowdive's Rachel Goswell, pressed on translucent yellow vinyl, with the B-side featuring a remix by Anton Newcombe (The Brian Jonestown Massacre).
The album's core roster boasts the cream of the neo-psychedelic crop, of which The Dandy Warhols and their shadow, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, are the reigning kings. Members of Omniscuro, Sun Atoms, Guiding Light and Hopewell, most of whom are repeat collaborators and on-again / off-again members of the live band, give voice to the album’s elegiac thesis while adding more light and hope than could be expected from this scene, at this time in history, and in a business that was just dealt a death blow by a pandemic.
The album also features Alexander Hackett (Pang Attack), Dion Lunadon (A Place To Bury Strangers, The D4) and Cheap Trick's Tom Petersson on 12-string bass, each tangling with PIA’s usual coterie of musical foils with songs merging into Holmström’s hyper-stylized world of symbols, themes and archetypes.
Mixed by Jeremy Sherrer at Spooky Electric Co. (Modest Mouse, The Shins, The Dandy Warhols), this album was mastered by Dave Coley at Elysian Mastering,
'It Felt Like The End of the World' LP https://peteinternationalairport.bandcamp.com/album/it-felt-like-the-end-of-the-world
Vinyl order https://bit.ly/3ZK7XNa
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/17F3GvmGjaXZK7Eb28YHhL
Holmström explains, "This record was mostly written and recorded during the pandemic so sonically and lyrically it can’t help but be influenced by what we all went through. There is a melancholy darkness as well as a peaceful beauty. The album title came from a “fairytale/poem” that is whispered at the end of 'Sea Of Eyes'. It perfectly captures the hopeful/scary feeling of change that comes at the end of something".
Named after a Dandy Warhols song, this eclectic project nails the elusive aesthetic of unexpected yet inviting sound art. Pete International Airport's quest to build immersive soundscapes that are also classic, catchy songs is successful, in part, due to Holmström’s uncanny ability to curate and his penchant for dropping collaborators into challenging creative spaces—both virtual and actual—then letting them duke it out.
The use of repetition - visually and sonically - and the use of limitations and boundaries (i.e. every Pete International Airport record has 11 songs) cements the collection into a beautifully cohesive whole that becomes more interesting with repeated listens. Peter, his long-time collaborator / producer Jeremy Sherrer, and his stable of co-creators have given us more than one album’s worth of hooks, ideas and beauty, somehow smelting them into a single monolith of sound that is accessible from any point, celebrating a world that just keeps ending.
"Musically, this record started with an obsession on the bass tone/line from The Cure’s 'Fascination Street' and a healthy appreciation of the detail in their sonic density. Most songs start on an acoustic, which in most cases gets muted somewhere in the process. Then layers of beats, bass lines, melodies, arpeggios, etc. get added / removed until the piece of music is interesting enough to entice someone to write lyrics and sing on it,," says Peter G. Holmström.
"Lyrically, I might suggest a topic that captures our dark chaotic world without sounding preachy. Sometimes the singers listen to me, other times they follow what the song makes them feel."
'It Felt Like The End of the World' is out now everywhere, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp, and on CD as a Deluxe double-album in a gatefold sleeve on transparent vinyl with an orange blob or on transparent vinyl with a purple blob. The 'Tic Tac' 7" vinyl is available on Bandcamp via Pete International Airport and The Dandy Warhols.
CREDITS
Recorded in Portland, LA, NY, UK and Montreal
Chamber Orchestra recorded by Chris Bergstrom
Mixed by Jeremy Sherrer at Spooky Electric Co.
Mastered by Dave Coley at Elysian Mastering
Album art by Francesca Bonci
Music written by Peter G. Holmström
Vocals and lyrics by:
Alexander Hackett (Pang Attack) on 'Sea Of Eyes', 'Out Past The Razor Wire', 'No Blindfold'
Lisa Elle (Dark Horses) on 'Fluid/Flex', 'Next Of Kin'
Daniel Sparks (Omniscuro) on 'The Watermark'
Jasun Adams (Sun Atoms, The Upside Down) on 'Commercial Eyez', 'Brave New World'
Dion Lunadon (The D4, A Place To Bury Strangers) on 'Commercial Eyez'
Chuck Davis (The Guiding Light) on 'Commercial Eyez'
Jason Sebastian Russo (Hopewell, The Guiding Light) on 'The Thoughts You Won’t Think'
Rachel Goswell (Slowdive, Mojave 3) on 'Tic Tac'
Instruments performed by Peter G. Holmström except:
Jeremy Sherrer - drum programming, MPC
Paulie Pulvirenti (Elliott Smith, Number 2, Eyelids) - drum kit, toms, octobans
Gregg Williams - toms
Cory Gray (Old Unconscious / Car Crashlander / The Delines) - piano, organ, synth
Rishi Dhir (Elephant Stone) - sitar
Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick) - 12-string bass
Lisa Molinaro (Talk Demonic / Modest Mouse) - viola
Louise Woodward - composer / arranger on 'Il Canto Della Polena'
Chamber Orchestra for 'Il Canto Della Polena'
Shin-Young Kwon - violin 1
Keiko Araki - violin 2
Charles Noble - viola
Pansy Chang - cello
Jason Schooler - double bass
Joseph Berger - French horn
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