Patricia Hall and Ian Hicks return with another installment of familiar yet bracing machine music.
Since the release of their self-titled debut in 2011, one-time New Talents Soft Metals has relocated from Portland to Los Angeles. On Lenses (due out July 16 on Captured Tracks), there is a bit of LA sheen to their gunmetal synth-pop, which largely (and thankfully) remains unchanged since their last album.
Citing synth innovators Christ Carter and Klaus Schulze as influences, Hall and Hicks present eight-tracks that fit nicely in the retro-dance stylings of their synth-obsessed contemporaries. They have some help this time around: Diego Herrera (aka Young Adults’ producer Suzanne Kraft) mans the bass on lead single ‘In The Air’ and veteran DJ/producer JD Twitch provides additional programming on several of the album’s tracks.
Stream Lenses below. Following the album’s release on July 16, the duo will embark on a two-month-long tour of the US and Canada, including a stop at Captured Tracks’ five-year anniversary party in Brooklyn; the dates follow.
7/19 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah
7/21 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
7/23 – Sacramento, CA – LowBrau
7/24 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
7/26 – Seattle, WA – Capitol Hill Block Party @ Barboza
7/27- Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
7/30 – Boise, ID – Neurolux
7/31 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
8/02 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
8/04 – Des Moines, IA – Vaudeville Mews
8/05 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
8/07 – Milwaukee, WI – The Cactus Club
8/08 – St Louis, MO – The Firebird
8/09 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean
8/10 – Louisville, KY – Electric Blue
8/14 – Columbus, OH – Kobo
8/15 – Detroit, MI – Garden Bowl
8/16 – Toronto, ON – The Drake Hotel
8/17 – Montreal, QC – Divan Orange
8/21 – New Haven, CT – BAR
8/22 – Cambridge, MA – TT the Bear’s
8/23 – Providence, RI – Fete (Lounge)
8/24 – Washington, DC – Comet Ping Pong
8/29 – Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery
8/30 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Brillobox
8/31 – Philadelphia, PA – Ortileb’s
9/01 – Brooklyn, NY – CT5: Five Years Of Captured Tracks – The Well
9/04 – Richmond, VA – Strange Matter
9/05 – Charlotte, NC – Snug Harbor
9/06 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn
9/07 – New Orleans, LA – LA Circle Bar
9/13 – Scottsdale, AZ – Pub Rock
