Pete International Airport - Sea of Eyes
Portland-based Pete International Airport presents the new single 'Sea of Eyes' featuring vocalist Alexander Hackett of Montreal dream-gaze outfit Pang Attack. This is the first offering from PIA's new 'Sea of Eyes' EP, set for release in November via cult label Little Cloud Records, accompanied by an intriguing shadow-dance video, directed by Francesca Bonci.
Pete International Airport revolves around Peter G. Holmström of The Dandy Warhols and Sun Atoms, whose sonic vision takes us on a meticulously crafted psychedelic journey into the dark heart of electronic rock. Named after a Dandies song, this project nails the elusive aesthetic of unexpected yet inviting sound art. PIA's quest to build immersive soundscapes that are also timeless songs is successful, in part, due to Holmström’s uncanny ability to curate and his penchant for dropping collaborators into challenging creative spaces—both virtual and actual—then letting them duke it out.
The 'Sea of Eyes' EP consists of five tracks that are rooted in PIA's third album 'It Felt Like The End of the World', released in late 2023 - all five of them co-authored with and featuring vocals by Alexander Hackett.
"'Sea Of Eyes' was one of the first tracks that got started for 'It Felt Like The End Of The World'. I tried to invent my own guitar tuning (CGCGCD). Of course, someone had done it before, but I got a cool chord sequence that felt good to play for 5+ minutes. I tried adding a chorus, but it never felt right, so that became the Outro," explains Peter G. Holmström.
"I had been obsessing on The Cure’s 'Fascination Street' (especially the bass line) and my first attempt at something similar ended up sounding like Simon Gallup goes dub. The other part of the attempt became the Bass VI melody. Daniel Sparks added an amazing modular synth “trumpet” sound that captured perfectly the claustrophobic atmosphere of the pandemic."
Just as the latest album, the 'Sea of Eyes' EP was mixed by Jeremy Sherrer at Spooky Electric Co. (Modest Mouse, The Shins, The Dandy Warhols), this EP was mastered by Dave Coley at Elysian Mastering. While most tracks were recorded at Holmström’s Air Traffic Control studio in Portland, all drums were recorded at The Trench Studios by Gregg Williams, who engineered The Dandy Warhols’ albums ‘13 Tales From Urban Bohemia’ and ‘Odditorium or Warlords of Mars’.
"I really wanted to showcase Alexander Hackett’s vocal and lyrical contributions to my record so, using the excuse of a video for 'Sea of Eyes' to release an EP of remixes seemed like a good idea. Of course lots of remixes don’t use the vocals…anyway…I got to work with Andy Bell (Ride) and Tom Smith (Holy Youth Movement) as well as long time collaborator Daniel Sparks (omniscuro) to put it together," says Holmström.
"I first heard Pang Attack when SUUNS shared a track on their socials. At first I was disappointed because it didn’t sound like SUUNS (I was obsessing on them hard) but, for some reason, I kept listening. There was something there that I connected with. Alex’s lyrics and melodic choices were perfect and I had to find out if he was interested in working with me. 'Sea Of Eyes' is the second song that Alex and I collaborated on. His lyrics perfectly capture the vibe of the world at that time".
The 'Sea of Eyes' EP is a logical progression (and continuation) of 'It Felt Like The End of the World' and the 'Tic Tac' 7" single, which jointly boast the cream of the neo-psychedelic crop, including Slowdive's Rachel Goswell, The Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe, Dion Lunadon (A Place To Bury Strangers, The D4), Cheap Trick's Tom Petersson, Lisa Elle of Dark Horses, and members of Sun Atoms, Guiding Light and Hopewell.
As of August 29, 'Sea of Eyes' will be released (digitally and on limited edition cassette) exclusively via Bandcamp, where the EP is available for pre-order and where 'It Felt Like The End of the World' is also available digitally, on CD and vinyl as a Deluxe double-album with gatefold sleeve. The 'Tic Tac' single with Rachel Goswell and it's 7" vinyl version are also available via Pete International Airport and The Dandy Warhols.
