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Cover art for Again by Before After Again

Again: Sophomore Darkwave Album from Before After Again

September 18, 2022

Before After Again returns with their second full-length album, simply titled “Again.” Drawing upon darkwave, post-punk, and industrial influences, this release marks a confident evolution in the band’s sound.

A Darker Evolution

Written by Jason Whitcomb and produced by Kevin Hartnell, the album features 11 tracks that blend gritty electro-rock textures with melodic sensibilities. Tracks like “Sweet Candy” and “Not to Speak” showcase the duo’s ability to balance aggression with atmosphere.

Spotlight: VWS

One of the standout tracks on the album is “VWS.” While the full meaning of the acronym has been partially lost to time, the band recalls the first word stands for “Violated”—a theme echoed in the song’s crawling, uneasy rhythm.

Lyrics:
Looks like a scene from a movie
Drags like a nail on the blackboard
Crawls like a limb gone numb

Cries like a lamb for the slaughter
Turns out we’ve all been before her
See how your senses blur

The light’s on
But nobody’s home
Click the lock pull the key
The medicine flows

The light’s on
But nobody’s home
Click the lock pull the key and the switch while
The medicine flows

Eat like a long lost survivor
Choke down the lies that you’ve told her
All while she watches on

Clean all the stains that you’ve left there
Burn all the remnants
And know where
I’m on the prowl again

Listen & Support

“Again” is available now on all major streaming platforms. You can support the artist directly by purchasing the album on Bandcamp or streaming it on Spotify using the players below.

After by Before After Again - cover art animated
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Mothsounds cover art

Mothsounds Debut: New Shoegaze & Indie Rock Album from Phoenix

June 21, 2021
Mothsounds cover art

Mothsounds: A New Shoegaze Journey from Phoenix

It is new release day and I am proud to announce the arrival of Mothsounds! This self-titled debut brings nine new tracks of indie rock and shoegaze created by the talented trio of Mike Chambers, Jason Whitcomb, and Kevin Hartnell.

The album is now available for streaming on your favorite platforms. Take a dive into this sonic landscape and let us know what you think!

Critical Reception

The debut has already caught the ear of international press. IndieCriollo praised the album’s experimental nature and raw power:

“We start today’s charts with a doublet of mothsounds, who bring us a whole experimental universe in their music… finding these two songs is like seeing the curiosity of rock, and how it can unleash you with fury with nothing to leave behind. It is pure rock so that you feel and do not lose your mind, so untie it all.”

Track Highlight: “Beta Carotene”

One of the standout tracks mentioned in the review is “Beta Carotene.” It’s a track that takes you by surprise, demanding you jump into its world while catching your breath. Driven by propulsive percussion and the cryptic, catchy hook “Lemon lime twister,” it leans heavily into the band’s college rock influences.

Mothsounds Album Credits

All songs written by Mike Chambers & Jason Whitcomb.

Mothsounds is:

  • Mike Chambers: Guitars, bass, keys
  • Jason Whitcomb: Guitars, bass, keys, drum programming, vocals
  • Kevin Hartnell: Guitars, bass, keys, drums, percussion, backing vocals

Mixed by Kevin Hartnell | Mastered by Hector the Rat
Moth photo courtesy of Natasha Wright.

View Full Lyrics and Tracklist (Click to Expand) ▼

1. Son of the System

Son of the system / A child of war he cannot fight / A mother’s conviction / Try and escape he cannot hide
Open doorways and starlit sounds / As the looking glass fades / Opulence on this carousel of the beautiful ones / But something’s not right
Son of the system / A child of war he cannot fight / A father’s intentions / Poising everything in sight
One by one, as the air runs thin for the struggling fold / Two by tow as we take control of everything else / It’s starting to rise

2. Chain Link

Stop me before I get tired of the same situation / The cat’s out of the bag now / Downtown on the corner with another
Don’t speak it’s ok / I don’t think I want to hear this / Excuses come easy / I should I know / I’ve made quite a few of my own
Tell me if I should sit back while it falls out from under / Your footing unstable / Grab ahold of the sky as you’re falling / But next time remind me / Of the ways that I’m there when you / Don’t seem to need it / Looking down at the bottom of a barrel

3. Beta Carotene

Screaming at the statues on the lawn / Losing any sense of self control / Find myself alone and then / Television’s on the fritz again / We should just go throw it away
Lemon lime twister / Yeah I think I saw your sister last night / Out past a quarter to two / Beta Carotene wasteland / Now you’re off to the next move / Don’t you come down until we are through
Where have all the good times left and gone? / Wondering if they ever came around / Would I fall in love again with someone other than myself, my friend? / This life is just such a charade
Now you’re running to the wrong side of the ship cause you know it’s sinking / But no one else has a clue

4. Disentangled

Now that we’ve come this far / I don’t expect you’ll understand / I’ll leave it all behind / Forgetting just how sad it is / Then you get under my / Cold and thin contorted skin
And all / All I hear / Is the silence you bring / I’ll find some sense / And I’ll wait for you to change
A loaded mouth of lies / Twisted tongue and serpent’s smile / You slither by and by / I sit alone and wonder why / No comfort I have found / In watching you consume my mind.

5. Photos of the Ghost

Your moves are fine / It’s all we do to keep it in place / Hanging out for now / Truth is I’m mortified / By your grace it seems
Your thoughts are mine / A stoic figure enters my mind / Who does she want now? / Changes like the weather / And clouds are blowing in
When should I just let it go? / Let it end in silence / Ask yourself would you look back / Or would you run for your life?
Unglued, but I / See the pieces fall into place / Nausea is mine / I cannot stomach all we’ve become / And all that we’ve made

6. Dark Army

Let us in your silver lining / Leaves you trembling on the floor
Now I can’t feel you / My limbs are numb / We’re innocent here / We are innocent here / Now I can’t see you / My eyes are blind / We’re innocent here
Half lit pathways open on / Promises of what we’ve done / Broken pages of your story / One that no one lives to tell

7. Edit

I’ll surrender myself / I’ll lay my hand facedown / Stripped of all that controls me / Can’t save you from yourself / Innocence is over / At least that’s what we’re told
The countdown / It’s starting / Change is bound to come / They beg us / To feed them / Always wanting more / The chants are / Still calling / Slowly drowning out / An answer to all / The questions are left out
Broken down and beaten / We pull ourselves back up / Raise a fist in anger / Then watch it fall back down / Ours is not to question / Just fall back into line

8. Slip

Who am I to tell you that your mediocre life is tainted? / You’ll find out someday I know / Maybe I should clear my head and the way I see you clouded in my far too empty mind
I miss all the finer things we know / When I come down to the excuses we’ve made / I’ll forget all our troubles and we’ll make some
Who are you to listen to my every word I’m speaking softly / So you can’t hear what I say / Maybe I should scream my lungs out and blow away what you’ve accepted in your warm embrace

9. All That We Have Lost

Distant voices / Slowly fade away / Is anyone out there? / Who hears the same thing? / We are never going back
This is not what I’m here for / Shouldn’t shock you / Don’t need words to show you how I feel about you / Tell yourself that it’s alright / But don’t look in the mirror / You might not like who’s looking back / Wash away denial
Is she lost? / Or is she waiting? / For someone who’ll make a change

#IndieRock #Shoegaze #PhoenixMusic #Mothsounds #NewMusic

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Before After Again debut album cover art

Before After Again – Self-Titled Debut: Atmospheric Darkwave & Post-Punk

March 9, 2020
Before After Again self-titled album cover art

Before After Again: Self-Titled Debut

Overlook Hotel Records is proud to present the self-titled debut from Before After Again. A collaboration between Jason Whitcomb and Kevin Hartnell, this project draws upon darkwave, post-punk, synthpop, and electro-rock styles to create a dense, atmospheric soundscape.

Released on January 1, 2020, this album marks a unique moment in the label’s history. Parts of the record were tracked in the original Overlook Hotel Records studio prior to its remodeling. As a result, the drum tracks capture a specific, “lost” room sound that no longer exists and can never be replicated.

Project Personnel

Before After Again is:

  • Jason Whitcomb: Vocals, Backing Vocals, Synths, Drum Programming, Bass, Guitars
  • Kevin Hartnell: Drums, Percussion, Bass, Guitars, Synths, Drum Programming, Backing Vocals

Special Guests:

  • Ty Whitcomb: Guitar on “Faux Devox”
  • Vic Bonato: Piano on “Core”

Mixed and mastered by Hector Ratt. Catalog R237-020.

Connect with Before After Again

Music Video: “Allison’s Gone”

Stream & Download

#BeforeAfterAgain #Darkwave #PostPunk #Synthpop #Industrial #KevinHartnell #JasonWhitcomb #OverlookHotelRecords

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Toxic Web - I cover art

Toxic Web: “I” EP – Darkwave & Dark Ambient Debut (2013)

October 4, 2013
Toxic Web - I cover art

Toxic Web: The Debut EP “I”

Overlook Hotel Records presents the debut EP from the electronic project Toxic Web, released October 4, 2013.

Overlook Hotel Records is proud to announce the release of catalog item R237-007: Toxic Web – “I”. This 4-track collection explores the darker side of electronic music, categorized as a blend of Darkwave and Dark Ambient soundscapes.

The project features the “fiendish and beautiful” vocal work of Deanna Quijada, supported by the synth wizardry of Jason Whitcomb and the rhythm section of Kevin Hartnell. The sound is often described as a mix of Darkwave and Dark Ambient, with vocals that channel the spirits of Kate Bush, Yma Sumac, and Nina Hagen.

Stream the EP

The EP is available for streaming or download.

Interview: Deanna Quijada

“Where do you get your ideas from?”

  • Where do you get your ideas?
  • Deanna Quijada
  • _blank
  • Interview
  • https://overlookhotelrecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Toxic-Web-Interviews-Deanna-Quijada.mp3

“Sometimes I know what a song means to me personally, and sometimes I just have a feeling about it. And where the stuff comes from, I don’t know. Well, I will say that sometimes I have an image of my muse as being a beautiful woman who’s leading me by the hand down a very dangerous looking back alley in some weird, twisted city.

And I like to think I’m brave enough to just follow her anywhere. And most of the time I feel I am, and I’ll just go for it, because it’s nice to give yourself that freedom and not judge things too harshly while you’re creating them.

I’d say that most of it is an emotional exploration of some mental state and it can take different forms and it can take different stories and it doesn’t have to be autobiographical. It is, but I’m just walking down that weird alley, checking it out, going, wow, this is different.”

Tracklist & Credits

Tracklist:

  1. Toxic Web (04:24)
  2. Sunfalls (04:06)
  3. My Hands Are Blue (03:05)
  4. Cold Grey Eyes (03:26)

Album Credits:

  • Deanna Quijada: Vocals
  • Jason Whitcomb: Vocals, Synths, Drum Programming
  • Kevin Hartnell: Drums, Bass, Guitars, Synths, Drum Programming
  • Ty Whitcomb: Guitar on “Sunfalls”

Produced by Kevin Hartnell & Toxic Web. Mixed by Kevin Hartnell and mastered by Hector the Rat at the Overlook Hotel. Cover Art Centerpiece by Guill Quijada.

©2013 Overlook Hotel Records. Catalog R237-007.

Lyrics

1. Toxic Web

Pretty eyes / By the fire light / In a veil of smoke / They won’t tell me lies
Bite your lip / Bite your tongue / Find a spine if you know one

In the toxic web / Where’s your head / Where’s the truth
All the words you have spoken
Like a fire burnin’ / They fall around on the floor
Where you stumble upon them / I stumble upon them

I act like a fool around you / So I gave up / And look at you without me
Close enough / In my own mind / I make impulsive love
Come get it / Or turn away this time / In the end it’s all fine

Black laced eyes / Filled with tears can’t control them
Bite your lip / Bite your tongue / Find a spine if you know one
In the toxic web / Where’s your head / Where’s the truth
All the words you have spoken
Burnin’ in my head / They fall around on the floor
Where you stumble upon them / I stumble upon them
Hot coals I walk on
Once again friend / Once again fire / Once again / Again / Again

2. Sunfalls

Sounds that hang above me / You’re sharing them with me
The things that you’re saying / Couldn’t mean much more to me
The absence surrounds me / I’ve nothing more to say
So come here and adore me / I wouldn’t have it any other way

Out here where the sun falls / And the sky drips endlessly down
I’ll take you before me / And make it heaven
(Repeat Chorus)

Every day with masses / I feel you in my life
With all this disaster / I’m glad that it’s all mine
I reach for your acceptance / I’m begging you to say
The things you said before me / In a special kind of way

Out here where the sun falls / And the sky drips endlessly down
I’ll take you before me / And make it heaven
(Repeat Chorus)

3. My Hands Are Blue

My hands are blue / My hands are blue

Angels are falling down / Battered and bruised
And when doors open in / Say “My God, look at you”
Look at you

Don’t tell me a lie / I won’t be alright
My hands are blue / As cold as you

4. Cold Grey Eyes

(Instrumental)

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Before After Again wallpaper - baby doll

Before After Again: New Darkwave / Post-Punk Project Announced

July 27, 2013

Before After Again: A New Music Project

Overlook Hotel Records is excited to announce a new collaborative project featuring Kevin Hartnell and Jason Whitcomb.

Before After Again is a new music project I am working on with Jason Whitcomb. Some may recognize Jason as one of the “Bile Brothers” from our Cambium project.

Drawing influence from the darker side of music, Before After Again explores a sonic landscape built on Darkwave, Coldwave, Synthpop, and Post-Punk textures.

From Cambium to BAA

Jason and I started working on music together a couple of years ago. Since then, we have accumulated quite a few songs in our catalog. Some of our songs ended up on the Cambium album released by Overlook Hotel Records, while others found a home as part of The Replicon Project.

While we currently do not have a release date set, I have a feeling that there is already more than enough material for a full-length album of Before After Again songs. The writing process has been incredibly productive, allowing us to experiment with guitars and denser synth atmospheres.

Listen: “Allison’s Gone”

To give you an idea of what the project sounds like, have a listen to “Allison’s Gone” first. It represents the darker side of the band’s sound.

Listen: “Akron”

In contrast to the atmospheric vibe of “Allison’s Gone,” the track “Akron” reveals our heavier side that incorporates guitars into the mix.

I will post an update as things move forward. We have really enjoyed working on all of this new material and hope you like the new songs!

Thanks for listening,
Kevin Hartnell
Overlook Hotel Records

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Cambium - Let's Send a Signal cover art

Cambium: “Let’s Send A Signal” – Debut Album Review & Stream

April 22, 2013
Cambium - Let's Send a Signal cover art

Cambium: “Let’s Send A Signal”

Overlook Hotel Records presents the debut album from Cambium, a 14-track journey through “future retro” rock.

Overlook Hotel Records is proud to announce catalog item R237-006: Cambium – “Let’s Send A Signal”. Available now for free download, this album represents a massive collaborative effort created in our secret laboratory.

Vic Bonat, Jason Whitcomb, Mike Chambers, Mat Williams, and I spent a year writing, recording, mixing, and “throwing hammers around” in a grand effort to bring you something special.

What Does It Sound Like?

Do you like your rock with synths? Perhaps you prefer your synths with guitars. Maybe you are like me and enjoy a very diverse array of musical styles, sometimes across the same album, or even throughout the course of the same song.

I’ve heard the term “future retro” thrown out there to describe the sound, but I have no idea what that means! Press the play button below and decide for yourself.

Stream the Album

The album is available for streaming or download via Spotify and Bandcamp.

Tracklist

Tracklist:

  1. Let’s Send A Signal (03:47)
  2. Forward Eyes (04:53)
  3. Biloquist (02:58)
  4. Escape Pod 9 (05:42)
  5. Nothing Else (04:06)
  6. Someday Soon (05:37)
  7. Recycle (03:18)
  8. Distant (05:14)
  9. Flinch (04:03)
  10. Static (04:49)
  11. Aphid (04:55)
  12. Salton (03:52)
  13. Where The Oxygen Gets Thin (04:10)
  14. Salton (long version) (06:18)

Album Credits

All lyrics by Jason Whitcomb. All music by Cambium.

  • Jason Whitcomb: Vocals, Synths, Bass, Guitars, Drum Programming
  • Mike Chambers: Bass, Guitars, Synths, Drum Programming
  • Mat Williams: Guitars, Leads
  • Vic Bonat: Guitars, Bass, Synths
  • Kevin Hartnell: Drums, Bass, Guitars, Synths, Vocals, Drum Programming
  • Deanna Quijada: Backing vocals on “Flinch”

Produced by Kevin Hartnell & Cambium. Mixed by Kevin Hartnell and mastered by Hector Rat at the Overlook Hotel. Artwork and design by Hector the Rat for Overlook Hotel Records.

©2013 Overlook Hotel Records. Catalog R237-006.

Lyrics: “Let’s Send A Signal”

Chains on our arms / Masks on our faces
We cover it up / For nothing at all

Let’s send a signal out there / One that they can’t ignore
Let’s find some trouble worth making / We’ll hang our heads when it’s done

When nobody’s watching / You think you’re alone
Confide in yourself / But watch what you say
These words are like poison / As you feed us like rats
And watch as we die

(Chorus)

No second chance / A life in the balance
You’ve been here before / No stranger to you
Hopelessly lost / Just hang on so tightly
I won’t let you go / Until I’m done with your soul

(Chorus)

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