*The Following Press Release Was Issued By FANATIC*
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| Indio, California — Coachella’s home — is where Dani Meza’s life began, then almost ended; His adapted, adopted new sound is the crushedvelvets. Nine songs over three EPs were “written while I healed,” Meza says. “Their style came out of necessity.” RIYL: Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Serge Gainsbourg. +++ Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets as photographed by Cristopher Cichocki +++ the crushedvelvets | “Like I Do” [YOUTUBE]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARtBU6TDYrE +++ the crushedvelvets EP 1 (S/R) Out Now Streaming Link: STREAM FULL EP  Track Listing: 01. Like I Do (YOUTUBE) 02. Intertwined 03. Mosaic +++ the crushedvelvets | About  After citing Al Green, Marvin Gaye and Prince as influences, it is only natural that Dani Meza of the crushedvelvets concludes, “These songs are all about the groove.” The nine new tunes by the crushedvelvets are presented three at a time, as if placed on a dark club’s bar like mixed drinks over the course of a mild summer evening. EP 1 is out now, the second arrived Sept. 2 and the third will arrive on Oct. 21. For Meza, getting to that stone cold groove meant first getting his own groove back and not just in the sense of the popular turn of phrase. Meza literally lost his ability to write and perform following an aneurism and stroke. “These new songs and style came out of necessity,” Meza confides. “The incident forced me to change my perspective on how to write and perform. My vocal delivery had to be more laid back and the groovy pace of these songs keeps me from over-stimulating myself.” The circumstances surrounding these recordings are out of the ordinary, but for listeners, they are even more alive with Meza’s soul and survival because of it. “These songs were written while I was healing and the influences on this sound and these songs comes from the variety of musicians and bands that I listened to while I was recovering,” he says. In addition to the aforementioned artists, Meza also mentions Serge Gainsbourg, Julee Cruise and Erik Satie. “I wanted to combine my love of R&B and Soul music with surreal sounds and imagery,” he explains. With this concept in mind, Meza knew he should reach out to producer Chris Schlarb, an artist in his own right with several releases on Sufjan Stevens’ Asthmatic Kitty label, as well as production credits for releases on Asthmatic Kitty, Joyful Noise, Jealous Butcher and many more. “Chris knew exactly what I was trying to achieve and gathered the players he knew would bring my new songs to life,” Meza says. Musicians Davin Givhan (Bass & Guitar), Ben Lumsdaine (Drums & Percussion) and Heather Sommerhauser (Keyboards & Backing Vocals) join Meza on Guitar, Keyboards and Vocals. “At our very first session, the songs seemed to fall into place on their own. I had no ambitions other than capturing the groove,” Meza remembers. In conclusion, Meza drops an inspiring reveal of his continuing ambition on the other side of emerging from recovery. Following the release of these three EPs, he plans to take the songs he amassed during his healing and head back into the studio to start working on “one of the many albums I have ready to record.” The first of three new three-song EPs by the crushedvelvets is streaming now. EP 2 arrived on Sept. 2 with EP 3 following on Oct. 21. +++ the crushedvelvets | Links YouTube Spotify Apple |
