As Atlanta indie pop duo I Am a Rocketship move closer to the release of their new ‘La Cruella’ album, they present the second single from this 10-track collection. ‘Gravity’ is a breezy pop number that offers a more bare-bones sound than the band’s usual sample-driven and atmospheric-heavy style.
I Am a Rocketship is a duo made up of multi-instrumentalist Eric Weissinger and Swedish artist L E Kippner. Before meeting, Weissinger was a bassist and guitarist backing up various artists and opening for the likes of The Wedding Present, James and The Black Crowes. Upon meeting Kippner (who is a cellist, scientist, radio DJ and vocalist for Swedish synth-pop duo Neobox), the two formed Hitchcock Blondes in Ohio and then I Am a Rocketship upon relocating to Atlanta.
“This is an end-of-summer song. Kind of groovy but a little melancholy. I was trying to channel a bit of Steely Dan and some The War on Drugs here,” says Eric Weissinger.
L E Kippner adds, “It’s about allowing yourself to trust someone to catch your fall but it’s also about letting go”.
‘La Cruella’ is in keeping with the band’s style, while also exploring new sounds – these compositions are about uncertainty, fear and dreams. Rooted in solid melodies, I Am a Rocketship mixes warm vocals, loud guitars, and cool electronic beats to explore that place where rock and trip-hop never quite met.
Earlier, the duo released ‘Do You Feel Good’, a song about the lengths to which folks go to reinvent themselves according to artificial constructs and human templates. This single features Kellii Scott, best known as drummer for the legendary band Failure and for his work with Veruca Salt, Dr. Dre, Pink, Enemy and Christina Aguilera.
“We tried a different way of writing songs for this album, and it turned out that every song had a story. Since our musical style has changed a bit with this album, the way that the lyrics tell those stories has changed as well. These songs don’t spell out what is happening but are about feelings. We hope people will find something to recognize, maybe feel that one of the song speaks to them,” says L E Kippner.
The band’s sixth major release, ‘La Cruella’ follows their 2016 debut album ‘Mission Control’, the ‘Mind Grafitti’ album (2019), ‘Ghost Stories’ album (2020), the ‘oRAnGE’ EP (2020) and the latest long-player ‘Lies and Legends’ (2021).
As of July 11, ‘Gravity’ is available as a Bandcamp exclusive. On August 4, the full ‘La Cruella’ album will be released on all fine music platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music.
