crushed: no scope
A debut album for crushed, no scope is out September 26th
As crushed, musicians Bre Morell and Shaun Durkan make maximalist dream pop music for themselves. Recording out of various homes, not fixed to any single location (Morell from Texas, now based in Los Angeles, and Durkan in Portland, Oregon), they write the songs they want to hear, tuning from shared taste for trip-hop, Britpop, electronica, and the canon of '90s alt radio, a desire for emotionality, and an instinct for when it sounds right and honest; when it means something real to them.
Their full-length debut, no scope, embodies their trust in one another and in their craft. A "no scope" kill in the video game lexicon is achieved by shooting a sniper rifle at close range without scoping in on your target, an apt metaphor for two artists following their pop impulses, shooting from the hip with precision. "It might also mean like, having no future," jokes Morell, "getting no-scoped by life." The reality of failure looms in most creative pursuits, perhaps more pronounced the further into your field you get. Several musical lives and midnight transmissions have led Morell and Durkan to this project. And on the triumphant no scope, crushed take life's best shots with their strongest work, wielding melodic, open-hearted hooks through a maze of breakbeats and spliced sound design with unprecedented immediacy and clarity. Next level, unlocked.
Out September 26nd, the LP arrives on PSG1 color vinyl and CD with cover photo by Ben Rayner. The album, co-produced and mixed by Jorge Elbrecht and mastered by Dave Cooley is up for pre-order now. crushed kick off a US tour with Cafuné in September.
Lead-off single "starburn" (which also gets the video treatment) is "about searching for hope on the brink of despair." - says Durkan. "I was reflecting on how I’ve spent my life, how I’ve used my time, and how desperate I've felt for it all to amount to something worthy of all the things I've sacrificed. A stable job, a family, my overall wellbeing etc… and the fear that maybe I'd spent my life in vain searching in the wrong places for some kind of satisfaction/self worth. The song is a cry for some kind of divine intervention, or for a blessing of cosmic luck to make me feel like my life could eventually add up to something that made sense to me before the fear and regret catches up and takes the wheel."
