Animal Maps has provided us with glossy, punchy electronic pop for just about a year now. Releasing their single “Luna” just one month ago in preparation of their second EP, Love In The Modern Age, to be released on January 10th, the band has sharpened their sound. “Luna” is gritty and celestial. Sometimes dissonant, heavily-layered synth tracks make up the body of the track, allowing for restrained vocals to float on top, sounding as if they’re coming from another room.
While the music is enjoyable, it can be difficult to set yourself apart from the myriad other electronic-based indie bands around these days. Animal Maps has a way to combat that, though.
“I think the biggest component to our music, in a holistic sense, are the through lines in our two EP’s, both lyrically and musically,” Corey told us. “It has always been important to me as a writer to make an album a complete thought.”
And “Luna” contains much of the personal within the music– both in the lyrics, and in the concentrated orchestration of the music. “Each note is precisely placed. With our first EP, Songs For Yesterday,. I had just gone through the conclusion stage of a personal relationship with a girlfriend. It was important to me to relay my thoughts as sort of a way to vent or connect with the listeners. Heartbreak is a beautiful cliche of the human experience and I tried my best to capture that in the lyrics.”
“We love creating atmospheres in our music. It’s important for us to set the stage for the focal points of a song with a somewhat passive, yet present soundscape.”
“With our upcoming EP, Love In The Modern Age, I really wanted the lyrics to be all over the place as far as topics, all while being written through the lens of mental illness. I wanted to write simple songs about simple topics that are being warped into convoluted issues and tensions due to the powers of anxiety, depression, etc.”
“The EP is being released on January 10th, which is two days before my 21st birthday. Seeing as this EP is definitely a coming of age record for me, I guess it only fits to be released just before the beginning of technical ‘adulthood’.”
“Our intent with Animal Maps is not to create some huge cash cow, pop hit machine. In fact, it’s quite the antithesis. We love giving away free stuff. We play mostly free shows, we always give people opportunities to download our music for free. We want to make music that will make people dance, cry, think, and come to our shows to do all of the above.”
“Our plan for the future is to continue to play shows in New England as well as tour throughout the rest of the country and wherever else our music may take us.”
We’re proud to have the chance to give you an exclusive first listen to their EP. Check it below: