July 1, 2024

Skylight Webzine

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Twin Cities indie rockers The Persian Leaps return with new ‘Drone Etiquette’ LP

3 min read

The Persian Leaps are releasing their new ‘Drone Etiquette’ album via Land Ski Records. Hailing from St.Paul – Minneapolis, The Persian Leaps has gone through various lineups but has always surrounded principal songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Drew Forsberg
“The title “Drone Etiquette” came from an article about the dos and don’ts of flying remote controlled drones. However, “drone etiquette” could also describe the rules that we mindless worker drones follow in our daily lives. The cover art, which was inspired by Soviet propaganda posters, evokes our enthusiastic lockstep march towards a meaningless existence,” says Forsberg.

“This EP was an especially difficult one to record and finish. Because of the pandemic I was forced to abandon a lot of the comfortable processes I’ve used for years. The friends I collaborate with for recording and performances weren’t available in person because of health issues, so I tried a new approach. This time around, I recorded at a different studio and performed all the parts on the EP myself. I also got directly involved in editing the tracks for the first time, which took longer. Ultimately, though, I’m very happy with how the songs turned out. The EP doesn’t address the pandemic at all, but it’s very much a by-product of lockdown and what we all endured.”

Embedded on a magnetic alternative rock foundation, the latest musical output continues The Persian Leaps’ tradition of producing power pop earworms with midwestern charm and an inherent element of 90s ‘college rock’. Earlier, The Persian Leaps presented the lead track ‘When This Gets Out’, a song born of frustration during the Trump presidency, following up with ‘Sweeps’.

The band-name ‘The Persian Leaps’ came to Forsberg in college while daydreaming during Greek Archaeology class. Writing solo music under that name for years, he finally assembled a band in 2012, releasing an EP every autumn until 2017. NME Magazine described their debut ‘Praise Elephants’ EP (2013) as “celestial guitar jangle”. From their sophomore ‘Drive Drive Delay’ EP in 2014 to their fifth ‘Bicycle Face’ EP, their music has been widely praised. Delivering one perfect power pop cocktail after another, they eventually released their 18-track ‘Pop That Goes Crunch’ anthology in 2018.

That year, the Leaps returned to their roots as a studio project, releasing the ‘Electrical Living’ LP in 2019 and the ‘Smiling Lessons’ EP in 2020 together with Jon Hunt, a musician and graphic designer who did the cover artwork for most of the band’s releases to date. During the 2020-2021 pandemic, Forsberg recorded ‘Drone Etiquette’ EP as a solo effort, primarily due to lockdown limitations.

On October 1, ‘Drone Etiquette’ will be released on CD and online platforms, including Apple MusicSpotify and Bandcamp.

CREDITS
Written and performed by Drew Forsberg
Drew Forsberg – Vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass, drum programming
Recorded by August Ogren, The Terrarium
Mixed by Neil Weir, Blue Bell Knoll
Mastered by Bruce Templeton, Microphonic Mastering
Cover art by Jon Hunt
All Songs Land Ski Music (BMI)
(c) 2021 All Rights Reserved

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