23-03-2024 Music 261

Casey MQ - Later that day, the day before, or the day before that

Casey MQ - Later that day, the day before, or the day before that

LA-based, Canadian-born composer Casey MQ is known for his 2020 breakthrough release babycasey, which gave voice to songs seen through the lens of childhood, various film score work, and collaborations with artists such as Oklou, Eartheater, and Vagabon. His gifts as a producer and songwriter are rooted in the excavation of personal truth. With his forthcoming LP, he questions what is true entirely, understanding our mind's tendency to bend and project onto pictures of the past. Across vivid, baroque pop balladry, Casey MQ reorients his recording project and point of view under the notion that memories are malleable.

"It's a memory album, and it might be a breakup album, too…there are more questions than answers."

Engaging his dreams and sitting with sheet music at his newly acquired piano, Casey looked to new and old inspirations including the works of Claude Debussy, Joni Mitchell, and Joe Hisaishi's beloved Studio Ghibli film scores. The resulting arrangements are minimal and spacious, plaintive and haunted; textures and tones shift from song to song as if mirroring the way our minds constantly recontextualize, remember, and forget.

Out June 7th, the LP can be pre-ordered now in stormcloud vinyl and bundled with limited edition notebooks. Along with the announcement, Casey MQ shares the lead single, "The Make Believe," featuring French musician Marylou Mayniel, aka Oklou. It arrives with a video directed by Gaadjika, following the two friends in the fog.

"This song is the closing track to my forthcoming album and a love letter to ever-changing memories. I wrote it when I needed reassurance. I have often felt as though I am pieces of a scattered self and need to reckon with perpetually shifting memories and everyday loss. There is joy in forgetting; the song, to me, feels like the push or guidance of a loving friend, so expressing the sentiment with one of my best friends felt right."


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