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Smoke Season

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Amanda Blide

LA-based indie duo, Smoke Season, describe their powerhouse blend of electronic and soul in four words: “Fleetwood Mac with beats”. Gabrielle Wortman and Jason Rosen, the duo that comprises Smoke Season, have carved out a sonic niche for themselves in the indie world — drawing on electronic, rock steady and soul influences to create something "utterly fascinating" (axs).

In November 2017, the group released their original single, “Wolves,” described by The Line of Best Fit as “indie-pop at its best” and announced a collaboration with UK-based audio technology brand, MQA, on an advertising campaign featuring the single. “Good Days,” released in summer 2017, was featured in Season 2 of BBC America’s Dirk Gently Holistic Detective Agency. The duo has received acclaim from major press outlets such as W Magazine, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, Clash Magazine, LA Weekly, and The New York Times, to name a few.

Smoke Season continues to be an influence in the fashion world — recently announcing a merchandise line designed by lead singer, Gabrielle, and featuring one-of-a-kind vintage products. The line’s first round of merchandise sold out within 12 hours of going live.

The pair has also risen as a voice for social change: flying to Standing Rock North Dakota to support DAPL protests and released videos focusing on bullying of LGBTQ youth ("Loose"), support for veterans ("When The Smoke Clears"), and immigration reform ("Emilia”).

Their 2016 Ouroboros EP featured a socially conscious short film that was featured at the 2017 Cannes Film and 2017 Hollyshort Film Festivals.

Smoke Season performed at SXSW 2017 and completed an international fall 2017 tour including stops in Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City and London.

Press Releases

06.16.17//Smoke Season Brings “Good Days” With Nostalgic Summer Release

09.12.16//Smoke Season Drops Game-Changing Ouroboros EP

Smoke Season Drops Game-Changing Ouroboros EP

Electro-Soul Duo Release EP and Accompanying Short Film

Los Angeles, CA – Indie electro-soul duo, Smoke Season dropped their latest EP, Ouroboros. Packed with Jason Rosen’s ethereal guitar work and Gabrielle Wortman’s mountainous vocal range, Ouroboros is without a doubt Smoke Season’s most lush and fully realized work yet. It is now available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and limited release physical CDs are available at smokeseason.com/shop.

Smoke Season caught the attention of noted music journalists with their cinematic indie rock and soulful vocals on earlier releases, and the new Ouroboros EP provides us with their most sophisticated sonic effort to date. The EP highlights the layered, ethereal Americana flavor that has become synonymous with Smoke Season, while simultaneously exploring more mature and driving beats as well as their most refined productions and arrangements. The result is a body of work that at times evokes the production styles of Sylvan Esso or The XX and, at others, the psychedelic arrangements and songwriting of The War on Drugs or Tame Impala. In the end, these sonic textures coupled with lead singer, Wortman’s ferocious and dexterous vocals solidifies Smoke Season’s sound in a class all its own.

“The songs on this newest EP really capture the heart and soul of who we are as artists in this moment.” Jason Rosen describes the direction of the songs as "1 part electronic beats, 1 part psychedelic soul and 2 parts whiskey under the Mojave Desert stars.” The first single, “Loose,” is electro-soul at its finest, featuring a driving beat, atmospheric breakdowns and lyrical finesse. In less than 4 minutes, Smoke Season’s “Loose” packs in the versatility and sophistication reminiscent of the best Alt-J or Portishead tracks. The second song on the EP, “When The Smoke Clears,” showcases the duo’s knack for unique vocal sampling off the bat and continues to refine its unique production throughout its length. The third song, “Emilia,” evokes a haunted lullaby with a 1950’s doo-wop-esque chord progression, culminating in a powerful soulful climax. Finally, “Santa Rosa,” drives home Smoke Season’s Americana roots with its Kurt Vile-esque guitar tones and a surprising powerhouse, up-tempo beat. Throughout each song, Smoke Season continually demonstrates lyrical prowess, pulling at our heartstrings with lines like “why can’t simple love me?” “there is gold in our veins” and “leave behind what you can’t chase.” Finally, the EP’s “Intro” and “Outro” serve to further drive home the feeling that the body of work as a whole is a cohesive and emotionally connected feat.

Kyle Draper and Dave Burris of Mateo Sound produced the Ouroboros EP, with additional programming and mix by Chris Mullings (The Neighbourhood, LP).

Ouroboros is, at its core, a concept album and even the EP’s title tells a story, stemming from the Greek symbol of the snake eating itself. “One interpretation of the Ouroboros myth is that destruction is only temporary and we are reborn from the ruin,” Wortman explains. To fully realize this concept, Smoke Season teamed up with Scott Fleishman of APLUSFILMZ to write and develop a short film and story that demonstrates the interconnectedness of the human experience. The duo collaborated with a team of actors, models, writers, producers and crew to create the film. The story plot continues throughout each of the music videos for the EP’s singles. So far, the duo has released the videos for “Loose” and “When The Smoke Clears.” Videos for the remaining tracks will be released later this spring.

Since forming in 2013, Smoke Season has been in a constant state of artistic fervor, independently releasing three EPs (Signals, 2013; Hot Coals Cold Souls, 2014; Bees, 2015), half a dozen music videos, and a tour schedule that featured frequent national runs and regular appearances on the stages of prominent festivals, such as SXSW and CMJ. Their unique musical style captured the attention of major press outlets like Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, Clash Magazine, LA Weekly, and The New York Times as well as earned them over four million streams on Spotify.

Visit Smoke Season at www.SmokeSeason.com and download Ouroboros in digital music stores now.

02.07.17//Smoke Season Promotes Female Empowerment With Stylish Cover Video

Smoke Season Promotes Female Empowerment With Stylish Cover Video

Los Angeles, CA – Indie-electronic duo, Smoke Season have taken Lionel Richie’s classic 1984 hit, “Hello” and laced it with fashion and empowerment. In the midst of the attention women have received in the media recently, Smoke Season wanted to showcase the importance of finding self-love. “Hello” is available for streaming on Spotify, for download on iTunes and for viewing on YouTube.

For the creation of their “Hello” cover video, the band assembled a group of powerhouse feminists to work alongside them. Critically acclaimed actress, Megan Duffy, known for her role alongside Elijah Wood in the Cannes Film Festival lauded thriller Maniac, directed the video. Duffy’s vision was for a blend of timelessness, empowerment, tension and style. Throughout the video, a distressed woman fights to find her inner peace. As she begins to unwind from a long day, she finds her oasis and reaches a new level of self-love. “The past couple of months have been trying for women, so we wanted to make a video that focused on female empowerment,” says lead vocalist, Gabrielle Wortman. “After a difficult day, this woman comes home weary and burnt out, but picks herself back up and gets ready for the next challenge. By the end, she’s done a complete 180 and has found her inner queen.”

Fashion played an integral part of the visual direction for the video. Zoe Zhou, one of Beyoncé’s stylists and notable contributor to her Lemonade video and Super Bowl performance, provided all the styling for the music video. She handpicked every piece used in the project to create an aura of equal parts modern and 1940’s film noir. The band also enlisted social media icon and Schon Magazine beauty producer, Mynxii White, who has previously worked with everyone from Stella McCartney to Marilyn Manson, to provide all of the hair and makeup styling. Women empowerment and self-love are distinct messages in the video. “Women are complex creatures, so we also wanted to portray the many faces of the female personality through the alter egos you see in the video. This is a Valentine’s Day love story, but instead of pining over a love interest, she’s pining over loving herself — and ultimately does." Rich with dark imagery and whispering melodic vocals, “Hello” exudes feelings of ecstasy.

Based in Los Angeles, Smoke Season has independently released three EPs (Signals, 2013; Hot Coals Cold Souls, 2014; Ouroboros, 2016), a handful of singles, a bevy of cinematic music videos, and a tour schedule that features frequent national runs and regular appearances on the stages of prominent festivals, such as SXSW and CMJ. Their unique musical style has captured the attention of major press outlets like Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, Clash Magazine, LA Weekly and The New York Times, while earning them over five million streams on Spotify.

“Hello” is available to download on iTunes and for streaming on Spotify. Watch the cover video now on YouTube and keep up with Smoke Season by visiting SmokeSeason.com.

07.28.17//Smoke Season Release Sun-kissed Video For “Good Days”

Smoke Season Release Sun-kissed Video For “Good Days”

Alt-pop Duo Evolves In a New Sonic Direction

Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles buzz-band Smoke Season has released the new music video for their latest single, "Good Days." The pulsating alt-pop anthem combines an earworm chorus with bouncy synths and is accompanied by a nostalgic, sun-kissed new video, available on the band’s VEVO channel.

The video, shot entirely on 8mm film, delivers a heavy dose of the 1970s vibe that has recently become synonymous with Smoke Season. “Good Days” is directed by longtime Smoke Season collaborator, Scott Fleishman, (of APLUSFILMZ) who recently handled videos for Snoop Dogg, Yellow Claw, Elliphant, DJ Snake, and became known for collaborations with Kendrick Lamar over the years.

Produced by Fabian Ordorica (Goldroom), “Good Days” puts Smoke Season’s artistic craft and genre-breaking skills at the core of their infectious pop, with Gabrielle Wortman’s fierce vocals and Jason Rosen’s distinctive guitar work layered with bursts of saxophone from guest instrumentalist James Ragusa.

“Good Days” is the first release from Smoke Season’s upcoming perspective fresh mixtape due out later this year and also marks an evolution in the band's sonic direction as a whole. In their new material, we see them exploring anthemic, up tempo melodies and feel-good instrumentation over the atmospheric, down tempo sound of their previous EPs. The shift, they explain, has been both intentional and accidental.

“The political situation in the America has gotten so heavy that we were desperate to create art that was a reprieve from that. On the other hand, we’ve growing as individuals and so are our personal artistic tastes so the changes have been really natural.”

Previously, the band’s 2016 Ouroboros EP featured a series of inventive videos and built a growing fan base dialed into the duo’s activism for social causes. Most recently, the short film they created in tandem with their Ouroboros EP premiered at 2017 Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner and is being featured at the 2017 Holly Shorts Film Festival in August. For more information visit SmokeSeason.com.