Constellation Myths shape identity through memory on ‘Everything and Time’
Massachusetts post-rock Americana project releases third single on September 8; debut LP out in October
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Photo credit: Ben Stas
LISTEN: ‘Suffer’ and ‘Case History’ now streaming on Spotify
Boston, Mass. [September 8, 2021] -- Reconciling the past with the present is an act of mythmaking, a process of organizing our memories through storytelling. In subject matter and its musical influences, “Everything and Time,” the third single from Massachusetts post-rock Americana project Constellation Myths, is informed by the necessity to make space for the past. The single and its companion b-side “Empty Bottles” are set to release on September 8 on all major streaming platforms.
For guitarist and songwriter Josh Goldman, the song had its origins in the quiet predawn of a bleary-eyed Thursday morning, coming together in a rush of structural experimentation. While for Justin Kehoe, who co-writes the music and lyrics, the words were inspired by a moment on the MBTA Orange Line, where he saw his former self 20 years prior in that very spot, at a very different point of his life, perhaps looking forward to some future self. Singer Molly Seamans was drawn to the song from the outset, immediately hearing in her head what would become the vocal melody.
Those moments all combined in “Everything and Time,” a composition with rising momentum that in turn serves as the title track to the outfit’s forthcoming debut album, due out this October.
“In the broadest sense this song is about the difficulties of reconciling the ephemerality and intangibility of the present with the persistent belief that we are stable, coherent, continuous beings,” Kehoe says. “It was sparked by one of those rare, acute nostalgic reveries. I was at the train station, waiting for the Orange Line one morning. It was that early morning, piercing sunlight, but scattered and diffused by the time it reached the garden-level platform. And I just had this strong memory of one of the first times I’d been on the Jamaica Plain end of the Orange Line, more than 20 years earlier when I was in college, commuting from downtown Boston to my first band’s practice space in Hyde Park. I was 19, I think, and I was struck by how far removed I was from that person -- 19 year-old me. And yet that is undeniably and intensely my own memory. I wanted to try and capture that feeling when the past as memory completely overwhelms and confounds the present. It felt resonant with the hazy autumnal glow of this song and the title Josh had given it -- ‘Everything and Time.’ Are we connected across time to our former and future selves? Or is each moment its own discrete world, and the notion of continuity a mere trick of the mind?”
Adds Goldman: “I was interested in composing with a strict minimalist structure in mind and had been experimenting with the idea of a one part song that didn't feel overly repetitive and actually went somewhere. If you listen closely, with the exception of the intro, the same chord changes continue throughout the entire song while the energy level is steadily increased through the addition of parts on top of it. The root of the song does not vary, however.”
Much like Kehoe’s own memory of that moment on the Orange Line platform, “Everything and Time” takes influence and inspiration from music of 20 years ago: the dark Appalachian folk of Gillian Welch; the indie bombast of The Walkmen; the solemn rise and fall of Godspeed! You Black Emperor. But it’s fully Constellation Myths, a collaborative project that revels in the depths of atmosphere and the empty spaces that exist outside the margins of songwriting.
“‘Everything and Time’ started as a very stripped down acoustic guitar driven tune with a lot of space and openness,” says Goldman. “When I handed it over to Justin he initially added drums and an organ part. In the next round of recording I added bass, banjo and more guitar overdubs. We amassed a lot of tracks very quickly piling more and more material onto that original idea until it was moody, atmospheric, and lush, really a world away from the dusty melancholy of the demo.”
This new track, together with prior singles “Suffer” and “Case History,” stakes out a sonic territory that balances the rural sparseness of folk-Americana with the more urban textures of post-rock experimentalism. Further brought to life by the single’s accompanying b-side, “Empty Bottles,” a barroom style sing-along with an extended interlude of gentle, ambient psychedelia, partially inspired by Bob’ Dylan’s “Restless Farewell.”
As one of the earliest songs and the title track on their first LP, “Everything and Time” gave shape to the album by staking out the sonic and thematic territory for the songs that would follow.
“Thematically, most of this batch of songs on this album are about the relationship between memory and identity,” adds Kehoe. “While we finished ‘Case History’ first, we had been working on this one for a long time. The lyrics for this song go way back to the beginning of this project, and in that sense can be seen as the starting place for the theme that would emerge over time.”
“Everything and Time” is both beginning and end, a specific moment in time that points both forward and backward, and one that opens up to hold all else within it.
Direct all press inquiries to Constellation Myths at theconstellationmyths@gmail.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.
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‘Everything and Time’ single artwork:
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Constellation Myths are:
Josh Goldman (acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, bass)
Justin Kehoe (drums, percussion, keys, and vocals on “Empty Bottles”)
with Molly Seamans (lead vocals)
and Andy Arch (guest vocals on “Everything and Time” and “Empty Bottles”)
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‘Everything and Time’ production credits:
Acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, bass 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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The music of Constellation Myths has been heard on:
Breakfast of Champions on WMBR; Virtual Detention and Fuzzed Out Boston on WZBC; Your First Listen on KNNZ (Fargo-Moorhead); The Pop Hour on Banks Radio Australia; Tinnitist; KONR (Anchorage, AK); Parcheesi Redux with Jay Breitling; Boston Emissions; Bay State Rock; Mark Skin Radio’s Christian's Cosmic Corner, Original Music Showcase, and Marc's Alt-Rock Playground; Lonely Oak Radio; Eagles Nest Radio; Valley FM 89.5 FM in Canberra, Australia, and other fine stations and programs.
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Media Contact: Constellation Myths at theconstellationmyths@gmail.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.