Poolside, the recording project of Los Angeles-based producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Paradise returns with a new single “Float Away” to announce the release of his upcoming studio album 'Blame It All On Love '(Ninja Tune/Counter Records). The retro-drenched lofi track finds Poolside teaming with Minnesotan alternative/indie dream pop act Vansire. 'Blame It All On Love' will be released October 20th.
The dreamy soundscape that is “Float Away” features Vansire’s Josh Augustin on vocals. Classic pop songwriting structure, hooks and grooves lend themselves to the classic ‘daytime disco’ sound Poolside is known best for.
“I've spent 15 years being like, ‘fuck your rules,’ and I finally feel like I'm not trying to prove anything or anyone wrong,” he says. “It’s just pure, unfiltered expression, and that’s why I'm really excited about this record.” On Poolside’s fourth studio album Blame It All On Love, Paradise leaves the shallows and enters the depths of his own creative voice. Its 11 tracks are funky, soulful, laidback and full of hooks that elevate Poolside’s sound to poignant pop heights. Rather than flex his electronic muscles, the production marks a return to his live music roots and finds ease in simple and radiant layers of sound, even as it comes face-to-face with the complex reality of one’s dreams come true. It’s a true product of everywhere he’s been and the long and winding journey he’s taken to arrive at this moment where there’s nothing left to fight or prove, just perfect grooves as heard on previously released singles “Each Night” featuring Mazy and “Back To Life” with Panama.
“Float Away” is released alongside a breezy and charming performance-based video with a darkly comedic edge directed by emerging artist Nathan Castiel (nathancastiel.com), who did the “Each Night” video and whose portfolio includes work for Remi Wolf, Jackson Wang and Surf Curse. Shot at a psychedelic house in the hills of Malibu, Paradise is joined by Vansire’s Josh Augustin and Sam Winemiller, Poolside guitarist Alton Allen and artist Taylor Olin to play members of a cult led by Poolside. The narrative is loose- showing vignettes in various parts of the house that hint at the cultish undertones while still keeping the vibe quirky, fun and loose.
Says Jeffrey Paradise, "’Float Away’ is Poolside’s love letter to yacht rock, a genre that was very uncool for a very long time but now seems to be rightfully getting its due. Having always dipped my toes into the sound, I decided to fully dive in with ‘Float Away’ and embrace all the cliches of the genre. I didn’t hold back and I love the end result with its incredibly slick (if I might say so myself) production, copious vocal harmonies courtesy of Vansire and sick af harmonized guitars courtesy of Steve Schiltz.” He adds, “The song began as a more straightforward acoustic song, and then completely changed once Vansire sent me their parts. These guys are hook machines, which is exactly what you need when trying to make a maximalist yacht rock song! There was so much in the vocal part that they sent me that I had to completely rearrange the song to make room for all of their different parts. This might be my favorite Poolside song to date.”
“The original demo Jeffrey sent over was called ‘yacht luv,’ so sticking with the seafaring imagery, I wrote and sang from the perspective of an imagined wealthy divorcee stranded on his boat, regretting his life choices,” shares Vansire’s Josh Augustin. “I recorded the vocals in my apartment’s tiny back room before I had set up a studio in New York, and for some reason I only had a borrowed guitar microphone and an XLR cord so short I had to lean really far forward to sing. Kind of hilarious to go from that setting to the lovely music video we filmed in Malibu!”
