Constellation Myths explore the nature of memory on ‘Case History’
Out August 18, the Massachusetts post-rock Americana outfit offer a wistful twirl through folk and alt-country
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Boston, Mass. [August 18, 2021] -- A song has the ability to transport us to the past, to kick us back to those moments that forever get associated in our own minds with a piece of music. But those memories can fragment and change over time, as they get overwritten and obscured by our present circumstances. That’s a sentiment that swirls around “Case History,” the forthcoming single from Massachusetts post-rock Americana band Constellation Myths.
Streaming on Spotify and available to purchase via Bandcamp on Wednesday, August 13, “Case History” follows July’s debut single “Suffer,” a propulsive banjo-led track that has already garnered radio play for the duo, composed of principal members Justin Kehoe and Josh Goldman, with vocalist Molly Seamans. On “Case History,” the lush acoustics, golden organ, and gliding percussion lean into an alt-country twang and indie-folk ambiance that takes hold of the listener; the track will be featured on Constellation Myths’ debut album, set for release this October.
“‘Case History’ draws on something Molly and I heard in a RadioLab episode about the nature of memory,” Kehoe says. “It’s the idea that the more you revisit a memory, the more you think about and replay it in your mind, the more you mess with that memory. It’s counterintuitive, but reliving your treasured memories is not preserving them. It’s altering, changing, distorting them. It’s introducing details and detritus from outside, each passage through a memory leaving traces of our current self behind. The relationship between memory and identity is a recurring theme for us.”
While this is just the second single from Constellation Myths, Goldman and Kehoe are no collaborative strangers. The pair have written and performed together as a rhythm section since the late-’90s, most recently with Boston-based indie band Rivers & Plains. Over the years their creative output has spanned genres -- post-hardcore, indie-pop, math-rock -- but with Constellation Myths the music skirts any easy categorization. It instead forms organically as the two, with Seamans, craft intricate compositions with new aural depths and easter eggs lurking just under the sonic surface. Their own experimentation with writing more acoustic leaning songs towards the end of Rivers & Plains’ run planted the seed for what was to come, a sound that is equal parts wistful and restless that draws on their indie and post-rock musical roots as well as their shared nostalgia for 70s and 80s AM radio and soft-rock.
“I think ‘Case History’ is definitely on the far end of the spectrum of what we're usually trying to synthesize; the more organic back porch country-time lemonade thing and the more post-rock stuff we've always played in various bands,” says Goldman. “The song is short and sweet and evokes those hazy orange-tinted songs from ‘70s country radio stations. I basically spent my early childhood rolling around New England in the back of my dad's camper van tuning into 8-tracks of that stuff. For me, that's what the song is about, that sleepy, late-day childhood nostalgia.”
Adds Kehoe: “From a more practical standpoint, even though it’s an earlier release, it’s a somewhat later song. I think it’s the most recent of this batch of songs we’re releasing this summer and fall and is pretty representative of our songwriting process at this point. The earlier songs were a lot crazier in the way we approached them, chopping parts up and rearranging. There was maybe less structural tinkering with this song, but the flow is basically the same: Starts with a riff or sketch from Josh. I pile on some things, both good and bad. We edit, and refine, get it to where we like it, and then Molly and I start talking about vocals. I think ‘Case History’ is the needed sunlight on the album. There’s a lighter touch to the song, which I think will help bring some air to the darker songs.”
The relaxed shuffle of ‘Case History’ evokes an easy late-summer haze, its seeming effortlessness born from years of collaboration and shared experience.
Please direct all press inquiries to Constellation Myths at theconstellationmyths@gmail.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.
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‘Case History’ single artwork:
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Constellation Myths are:
Josh Goldman (guitar, bass, banjo, dulcimer)
Justin Kehoe (drums, keys, vocals)
with Molly Seamans (lead vocals)
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‘Case History’ production credits:
Guitars and banjo tracked by Josh at home in Dorchester, MA. Keys and vox tracked by Justin at home in Jamaica Plain, MA. Drums recorded by Justin at Studio 52 in Allston, MA.
Recorded and mixed by Constellation Myths in Boston, MA.
Mastered by Andy Arch in Cape Cod, MA.
Cover design by Molly Seamans.
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Constellation Myths 2021 press photo:
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The music of Constellation Myths has been heard on:
Virtual Detention on WZBC; Your First Listen on KNNZ (Fargo-Moorhead); KONR (Anchorage, AK); Parcheesi Redux with Jay Brietling; Lonely Oak Radio, Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood; Bay State Rock; Mark Skin Radio’s Christian's Cosmic Corner, Original Music Showcase, and Marc's Alt-Rock Playground.
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Media Contact: Constellation Myths at theconstellationmyths@gmail.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.