aaamusic | On 30, Jun 2010

 

A lot of musicians pay lip service to having a plethora of far-flung musical influences, but then you listen to their music and it sounds like they’ve done their best to avoid them at any cost. Citing artists as diverse as Jorge Ben, Brian Wilson, Sergio Mendes, and Curtis Mayfield, AM’s first UK album – ‘Future Sons & Daughters’ – truly delivers on the sum of its parts.

AM – born in Tulsa, raised in New Orleans and currently making a home in the artsy Eastside Los Angeles neighborhood of Silverlake and Echo Park – releases ’Future Sons & Daughters’ in the UK on August 30^th. At times sounding like Jim James of My Morning Jacket singing his way through Beck’s lost album between Mutations and Midnite Vultures, the record brings together the best of musical worlds, rippling through classic roots sounds: AM pop and rock, steamy soul and R&B, Brazilian tropicalia, British Invasion, and ‘60s Bay Area psychedelia.

AM’s debut UK single ‘Self Preservation’, due for release on July 26^th reminds us that we still live in a world which focuses on the survival of the fittest, only now, it’s in a more subdued way. Taken from the forthcoming album, it showcases the political and cultural commentary of AM’s lyrics as they melt into West Coast, sunshine melodies – “It’s hard to turn this around / But like the leaves change / We just have to rearrange / In order to survive”.

‘Future Sons & Daughters’ is a tantalizing glimpse at a promising future-pop. Recorded and produced by Charles Newman (Magnetic Fields) in Elliott Smith’s former apartment, the record represents the full flowering of AM’s singular gifts. AM didn’t make the album alone, however: “The band really delivered on this album,” he says. “Before we got together to go over the songs I made everyone in the band a hand-picked playlist of everything I had been digging on in the last year: obscure Italian soundtracks and Brazilian music, psychedelic Turkish folk, deep cut soul and groove.”

AM’s debut album, ‘Troubled Times’ (only released in the US), was named one of the best indie albums of the year by iTunes (2006), and every song from the record was culled for use in American movies and TV shows, such as ABC’s Brothers & Sisters and MTV’s The Hills.

After AM supported French electro-pop duo Air on their first North American tour in three years, they asked him to join him on their current French tour. He has also supported Charlotte Gainsbourg on her North American tour and opened for acclaimed Brazilian songwriter Caetano Veloso in LA earlier this year. AM also performed at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.

Watch the video for debut single ‘Self Preservation’ here: