(Photo by Chris Hogge) Hailing from Brooklyn, the minimalist post-punk/synth-pop duo, The Vacant Lots, have unveiled their upcoming fifth studio album, “Interiors”. Alongside the announcement, they’re also premiering a video for the album track, “Amnesia”.

Set for release on October 13th through Fuzz Club, the 8 tracks of “Interiors” represent, in the words of duo Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen, their “darkest and most visionary” work to date. Their collaboration with Maurizio Baggio, known for his work with The Soft Moon and Boy Harsher, continues as he takes on the mixing role once more, having previously contributed to the band’s “Closure” (2022) and “Interzone” (2020) albums.

Diving into the depth of “Amnesia”, Jared Artaud explains: “It’s about dealing with duality and integrating the conflicting feelings within a relationship. It’s about feeling dissociative and getting burned by the fire. Then coping with how this inevitably leads to the dissolution of the relationship. This is a mantra for all the songs on the album.” Further speaking about the video for “Amnesia”, Artaud praises the visionary behind the camera: “Alex Schipper is a master of taste. Our collaborative ventures from the ‘Closure’ album videos were truly harmonious. He perfectly encapsulates our minimalist aesthetic. A guiding principle for the band is ‘through darkness, light.’ Alex’s rendition in the Amnesia video, complemented by Mateen Ismail’s performance, truly resonates with this sentiment.”

The “Amnesia” video, created by Alexander Schipper and featuring model and actor Mateen Ismail, can be watched below:

For those eager to catch The Vacant Lots’ electrifying live performances, here are their upcoming tour dates: Read the review of ‘Interiors’.

• Oct 19 – London, UK @ The Shacklewell Arms
• Oct 21 – Paris, FR @ Supersonic
• Oct 23 – Berlin, DE @ Urban Spree

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Out on Fuzz Club Records on September 30th is “Closure”, the fourth album of the New York City based post-punk act Vacant Lots. The album is the follow-up to the 2020 album “Interzone”. The record was mixed by Maurizio Baggio (Boy Harsher, The Soft Moon, Merchandise) and all songs were written, performed and produced by The Vacant Lots.

The minimalist post-punk/synth-pop duo, Jared Artaud and Brian MacFadyen, caught the attention of the bigger public thanks to their collaborations with Suicide’s Alan Vega. Today Jared has joined Alan’s widow and longtime musical ally Liz Lamere in curating the Vega Vault of unreleased material, culminating in co-producing and mixing 2021’s lost album, “Mutator”.

Out now is the new single “Thank You”.

This is the previously released single “Chase”.

The duo will embark on a tour in September/October through North American supporting The Black Angels with UK/Europe tour dates in November/December.

Upcoming UK/EU/US/CA Tour Dates

• Sep 30 – Dallas (US) – Granada*
• Oct 1 – Lawrence (US – Bottleneck*
• Oct 3 – St Louis (US) – Delmar Hall*
• Oct 4 – Omaha (US) – Slowdown*
• Oct 5 – Minneapolis (US) – First Avenue*
• Oct 7 – Madison (US) – Majestic*
• Oct 8 – Cleveland (US) – Beachland*
• Oct 10 – Detroit (US) – Majestic*
• Oct 12 – Toronto (CA) – Phoenix*
• Oct 13 – Montreal (CS) – Corona*
• Oct 14 – Boston (US) – Paradise*
• Oct 15 – DC (US) – 9:30 Club*
• Oct 17 – Brooklyn (US) – Brooklyn Steel*
• Oct 18 – Philadelphia (US) – Union Transfer*
• Oct 19 – Chapel Hill (US) – Cat’s Cradle*
• Oct 21 – Atlanta (US) – Variety*
• Oct 22 – Nashville (US) – Brooklyn Bowl*
• Oct 23 – Birmingham (US) – Saturn*
• Oct 24 – Baton Rouge (US) – Chelsea’s Live*

(*) with The Black Angels

• Nov 11 Dijon (FR) – Consortium Museum
• Nov 12 – Paris (FR) – L’International
• Nov 13 – Le Havre (FR) – Mc Daid’s
• Nov 16 – Maastricht (NL) – Muziekgieterij
• Nov 18 – Dordrecht (NL) – Popcentrale x Bibelot
• Nov 19 – Berlin (DE) – Synästhesie Festival
• Nov 22 – Halle (DE) – Hühnermanhattan
• Nov 24 – Copenhagen (DK) – Loppen
• Nov 26 – Stockholm (SE) – Debaser Bar Brooklyn
• Nov 30 – Haarlem (NL) – Patronaat
• Dec 1 – Hastings (UK) – The Piper
• Dec 2 – London (UK) – Strongroom
• Dec 3 – Manchester (UK) – SOUP
• Dec 4 – Glasgow (UK) – The Flying Duck
• Dec 5 – Nottingham (UK) – The Chameleon
• Dec 6 – Bristol (UK) – The Crofters Rights

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Shoegaze, Post-Punk, Dream-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Seatemples is a Chilean formation active since 2014. Three years later they released the debut album “Down Memory Lane” on Custom Made Music. “Trópicos” was released in 2020, the CD format by Icy Cold Records (France) while there’s also a cassette format released by Blackjack Illuminist (Germany).

Content: The album takes off with a rather evasive piece carried by guitar playing reminding me of the 80s spirit of Dream-Pop and Shoegaze. The songs are diversified, but constantly switching from Dream-Pop to Shoegaze. I also noticed Cold-Wave influences, which are mainly emerging at “Beagle”. Most of the songs have been sung in English, but you’ll also notice several cuts sung in Spanish.

+ + + : Seatemples didn’t spare any effort to get a professional production. Daniel Knowles (known from Amusement Parks On Fire) took care of the mixing while Maurizio Baggio (The Soft Moon, Boy Harsher, Holygram) did the mastering. The global production brings us back to the dark, evasive part of 80s Shoegaze and Dream-Pop. The guitar playing creates this retro sensation, which has been masterly accomplished at different tracks. I also want to mention the cool production of the vocals, featuring male- and female vocals.

– – – : Seatemples released a fully enjoyable album, but unfortunately without a potential hit.

Conclusion: I think there’s something hiding inside this band, which doesn’t totally emerge. Let’s keep an eye on the evolution of Seatemples.

Best songs: “Holograms”, “Beagle”, “Desierto”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/seatemples

Label: www.facebook.com/icycoldrecords

About Seatemples

Seatemples is a Chilean band active since 2014. The group released its debut album, “Down Memory Lane”, in 2017 through Custom Made Music.

“Trópicos” followed in 2020, issued on CD by Icy Cold Records in France and on cassette by Blackjack Illuminist in Germany, mixed by Daniel Knowles of Amusement Parks On Fire and mastered by Maurizio Baggio, known for his work with The Soft Moon, Boy Harsher and Holygram.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com