solid lines
Solid Lines- (full album download)
shine on me - single
download (WAV)
download (radio Edit - wav)
the mirror - single
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BIOGRAPHY
Solid Lines’ self-titled debut offers a deeply compelling introduction to Austin-based auteur Greg Barkley’s playfully melodic, warmly soulful electro-pop song craft. Such effortlessly winsome tunes as “Day Like This,” “Shine On Me,” “The Mirror” and “Be A Ghost” confront the ups and downs of human affairs while balancing introspective melancholy with the transcendent uplift of pop perfection.
Solid Lines–which picks up where Barkley’s previous band, the acclaimed indie combo Oh No Oh My, left off--marks the artist’s return to music after a three-year hiatus from recording.
Solid Lines is the product of that burst of renewed creative inspiration. “At the time I didn't really think that what I was creating was going to be a cohesive album, but it eventually turned into Solid Lines,” Barkley explains, adding, “I had a really high sense of urgency when writing and recording this. My life was pretty hectic at the time, with twin toddlers and a full time job, so I would only really have time to record after the girls went to bed. I didn't get a lot of sleep, but that added to the urgency. It was a prolific time for me. I didn't want my creativity to burn out or go away, so I would spend as much time as I could working on these songs.”
Although he enlisted the talents of such friends as Shivery Shakes bassist Will Glosup, and Oh No Oh My drummer Joel Calvin and keyboardist Tim Regan (who co-produced the album), Barkley mostly wrote and recorded Solid Lines on his own, finding creative inspiration in the solitude. “I showed the songs to a few people early on,” Barkley says, “and I realized that I wasn't looking for collaboration, so I didn't ask for outside input until the songs were more fleshed out. The whole process was very introspective for me, probably because the music was created alone and at night in my studio, and I was feeling pretty disconnected from the rest of the world out there.”
Barkley’s compositions on Solid Lines pack a consistent melodic and emotional punch, pressing sonic and emotional buttons in ways that stick with the listener long after the music fades. “For better or worse, I wanted to make an album full of songs that crashed ahead full steam without slowing down,” Barkley notes.
Barkley’s former band Oh No Oh My formed in Austin, Texas in 2005, recording a series of demos that generated online buzz in the burgeoning blogger community. The band developed a following, largely on the strength of their song "Walk in the Park". 2006 saw the release of the band’s self-titled debut album, and the band toured the U.S. for the next two years, sharing bills with such bands as The Flaming Lips, Gnarls Barkley, Duran Duran, Modest Mouse and Mew, and playing such festivals as Lollapalooza, Detour, and SXSW. Oh No Oh My released three full-length albums and two EPs, continuing to tour across the America and Europe for the next seven years, before playing their final show in the summer of 2013.
“For the most part, the songs come from a place of nostalgia for a time when you’re young and wandering through life free of any major responsibility. But in a way, it's also an album of love songs for my wife and kids, thinking about all the paths I could have chosen and the one that I ultimately took that led me to where I am now.”
Solid Lines’ self-titled debut offers a deeply compelling introduction to Austin-based auteur Greg Barkley’s playfully melodic, warmly soulful electro-pop song craft. Such effortlessly winsome tunes as “Day Like This,” “Shine On Me,” “The Mirror” and “Be A Ghost” confront the ups and downs of human affairs while balancing introspective melancholy with the transcendent uplift of pop perfection.
Solid Lines–which picks up where Barkley’s previous band, the acclaimed indie combo Oh No Oh My, left off--marks the artist’s return to music after a three-year hiatus from recording.
Solid Lines is the product of that burst of renewed creative inspiration. “At the time I didn't really think that what I was creating was going to be a cohesive album, but it eventually turned into Solid Lines,” Barkley explains, adding, “I had a really high sense of urgency when writing and recording this. My life was pretty hectic at the time, with twin toddlers and a full time job, so I would only really have time to record after the girls went to bed. I didn't get a lot of sleep, but that added to the urgency. It was a prolific time for me. I didn't want my creativity to burn out or go away, so I would spend as much time as I could working on these songs.”
Although he enlisted the talents of such friends as Shivery Shakes bassist Will Glosup, and Oh No Oh My drummer Joel Calvin and keyboardist Tim Regan (who co-produced the album), Barkley mostly wrote and recorded Solid Lines on his own, finding creative inspiration in the solitude. “I showed the songs to a few people early on,” Barkley says, “and I realized that I wasn't looking for collaboration, so I didn't ask for outside input until the songs were more fleshed out. The whole process was very introspective for me, probably because the music was created alone and at night in my studio, and I was feeling pretty disconnected from the rest of the world out there.”
Barkley’s compositions on Solid Lines pack a consistent melodic and emotional punch, pressing sonic and emotional buttons in ways that stick with the listener long after the music fades. “For better or worse, I wanted to make an album full of songs that crashed ahead full steam without slowing down,” Barkley notes.
Barkley’s former band Oh No Oh My formed in Austin, Texas in 2005, recording a series of demos that generated online buzz in the burgeoning blogger community. The band developed a following, largely on the strength of their song "Walk in the Park". 2006 saw the release of the band’s self-titled debut album, and the band toured the U.S. for the next two years, sharing bills with such bands as The Flaming Lips, Gnarls Barkley, Duran Duran, Modest Mouse and Mew, and playing such festivals as Lollapalooza, Detour, and SXSW. Oh No Oh My released three full-length albums and two EPs, continuing to tour across the America and Europe for the next seven years, before playing their final show in the summer of 2013.
“For the most part, the songs come from a place of nostalgia for a time when you’re young and wandering through life free of any major responsibility. But in a way, it's also an album of love songs for my wife and kids, thinking about all the paths I could have chosen and the one that I ultimately took that led me to where I am now.”
