Spring Summer preps new LP produced by Warpaint’s Jenny Lee Lindberg (listen to “Small Town”)
North Carolina native Jennifer Furches, who has been a touring member with Cass McCombs, Ben Lee, Sea Wolf, Coconut Records and more, makes music on her own as Spring Summer and is set to release her first album in a decade, T.E.A.R.S., this Friday (7/15). The album was produced by Warpaint's Jenny Lee Lindberg, and features regular collaborator Jason Schwartzman (Coconut Records) on drums on most of it.
We've got the premiere of "Small Town," a dreamy, lightly twangy song with a strong melancholic undercurrent. You can watch the surreal video, directed by Aaron Beckum, below.
Jennifer also gave us a list of 10 inspirations behind the album, including music by Courtney Barnett, Sharon Van Etten, The Cure, Portishead, Massive Attack and more. Read that that, complete with commentary, below.
Spring Summer will be playing a few shows this month in support of the album, including NYC's Berlin Under A on July 26 with Monsoon and Carli & The Dark. All dates are listed below.
SPRING SUMMER - 10 INFLUENCES BEHIND NEW ALBUM T.E.A.R.S.
Nile Rodgers (Chic) and Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads)
My song “Last One” started out as a bittersweet folk song. Jenny had a vision to transform it and heavily referenced the guitar style of Nile Rogers and bass playing of Tina Weymouth. It’s a point of pride for me that the great Bernie Grundman, who mastered the album, said while dancing in his chair, “now THIS is a song!” (I choose to ignore what that may say about his feelings for the rest of the record ).
Beach House - “Ten Mile Stereo”
I’m such a big Beach House fan, and this song is one of my favorites. When I struggle to start writing, I learn a song I love. I learned this one quickly and started changing the guitar part around until my song “Bitter Cold” just flowed out. Some parts of the day’s demo made it onto the final album!
Sharon Van Etten's Are We There and Because I Was In Love
The way I write everything starts as a folk song on acoustic guitar. I desperately wanted these songs to be more than that, but I had no idea how to get there. When I was writing I obsessively listened to these two albums; because I loved them, but also because they gave me hope that my little folk songs could transform as hers had.
Courtney Barnett's Tell Me How You Really Feel
I listened to this record on repeat the whole time we were recording. I can be quite dysfunctional when it comes to communicating what sort of drums I want on a song. I probably drove Jason crazy by just answering him with this record every time. He’d say “Yes, it’s an incredible record, but your song is slow! And in 6/8!” I think I just wanted to be that record.
Chvrches - “Get Out”
I got obsessed with this song from a playlist Jason made for the kids. This was another like the Beach House one, where I learned it and “I Told You It’s Over” just sort of fell out after (with some encouragement from my guitar player, Tim). Also that song wouldn’t be what it is if I hadn’t just discovered the EHX Synth9 pedal and this bass synth I learned about from watching Beach House videos. Using different gear can really steer you in a new direction.
The Cure - “Disintegration”
This song and the sound of The Cure in general definitely had a big influence on how we recorded “It’s Always Been You.”
Portishead - “The Rip”
Jenny and I both love Portishead! When we were working on the song “T.E.A.R.S,” she had the idea to, similar to “The Rip,” let the song go for a good long while as just a piano song, and then fade up to a full band.
Massive Attack - “Teardrop”
I had never really heard Massive Attack so Jenny played several songs for me in the studio. The drone of this one really appealed to us overall—but I think it shows up especially in “T.E.A.R.S.”
Pixies - “Wave of Mutilation UK Surf”
The Pixies are one of those bands I listened to a LOT in high school, but I had never heard this version. We were stuck on a song one day—and when we were stuck Jason would play us lots of music. He put this on last and then we decided we needed to get back to work. This drum beat ended up being just what we needed!
Clinic - “Porno”
Jenny introduced me to Clinic in the studio. There’s a sound that happens only once in this song that she decided would be the final touch for “QMII”—if we could figure out how to make it! We tried a few things but ultimately it’s our engineer Tim dropping his Fender Reverb amp, plus Jenny’s voice.
Mitski - “Old Friend”
Be the Cowboy came out around the time I first started working on this record, and it was in heavy rotation in my headphones. I love the time changes in this song—they’re sneaky! I used that idea in “QMII.”
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SPRING SUMMER - 2022 TOUR DATES
7/19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Airliner
7/20 - San Francisco, CA - Amado
7/26 - New York, NY - Berlin
7/28 - Chapel Hill, NC - Cat’s Cradle Back Room