Dead Leaf Echo recently announced its sophomore LP, Beyond.Desire, out October 13th via PaperCup Music. A follow-up to their Strawberry.Skin EP, released earlier this year, the new album was recorded at Mexican Summer’s studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with legendary My Bloody Valentine engineer Guy Fixsen and Jorge Elbreht (Ariel Pink, No Joy.).
Dead Leaf Echo plays self-described ‘nouveau wave’– a dark, shimmering mix of shoegaze and layered guitar pop — and new single Temple embodies their signature sound with hazy, reverb-soaked guitars and haunting vocals. You can stream the track where it premiered with BrooklynVegan or via SoundCloud.
Beyond.Desire once again finds the Brooklyn-based band exploring high-arching themes of maturation and growth beyond the basic needs of lust. Its tracks range from shimmering to scorching, operating as both pretty, blissed-out narratives and pure white-noise nihilism.
We managed to catch up with one half of the band as they talk about the upcoming album and more!
How pumped are you for the release of Beyond.Desire?
ANA: It’s like driving cross-country. You are incredibly psyched and it is an incredible journey with fun highlights across the way, but you’re in it for the long haul. Feeling like we’re about to arrive on the opposite coast and jump out of a convertible onto a sunny beach and run into the water.
LG: It’s a journey with friends across the whole county and the best part is that you get to stop in each city on the way and hang out with old and new friends you haven’t seen in months or sometimes even years at their favorite bars and catch up.
What is your favourite track from this album?
Ana: How dare you make me pick favorites between our children? We love them all! But it’s a toss up between the pop twinged “Strawberry Skin” and the deeper denser “It’s Starting to Happen”.
LG: I’m right with Ana on this one. “Temple” is a rush too to play live. I’d also like to play “Drifting.Inside” one day. We have never done that. Most of the songs are demo’d and then worked live on the road except for that one and “Cloudancing” (see below)
Can you tell us anything about the album no one knows?
Ana: “Cloudancing” was created out of a day long session where we went into the studio and just jammed out different ideas completely as an experiment. We don’t really work that way in terms of just openly “jamming” to write a song so it was cool to try it, see what happened and just record everything. We are now trying to re-learn the song to play live because it wasn’t something we intentionally wrote and rehearsed sections in a standard way.
LG: Yeah when we first got together to work on new material some 4 years ago we did 4 songs of improvised jams. There long like 20 minutes each. Somehow “Cloudancing” was selected from the 4 and worked on over time. It was incredibly difficult to piece together into sections. I tried sequencing it into 4 minutes and 8 minute different versions. We relearned both versions and ended up cutting the one we liked best at Gary’s Electrical. It still didn’t work. Ended up cutting down the original take which wasn’t as well recorded but had the magic in it. Found vocal melodies in Ana’s guitar lines. For the most flowing song we’ve ever worked on it was the most mechanical but gratifying to work in a whole new process.
How has the release of “Temple” gone so far?
Ana: Seems like were getting a really good response and a couple of shows and interviews have seemed to suddenly popped up. Our fans are saying the “LOVE” it!
LG: Working on the video for it now all shot it all on film just like the video “Strawberry.Skin”. Hoping that we can put it together by the end of the month. It’s just a long process waiting of the film to develop.
What venue are you most looking forward to playing your upcoming tour?
Ana: Playing at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn for our Record Release Party on Friday October 13th. However, out of town it’s gotta be returning to play Part Time Punks at The Echo.
LG: Definitely those 2 that Ana just named. Also I’m interested in playing at Bell’s Brewery for the Kalamashoegazer festival on Nov. 4th , I think that stage will be a good one and the Beachland Ballroom in Cleavland will be fun doing the Halloween Masquerade Ball for CSU. Still have to decide what were gonna go as
What was your favourite moment while recording the album?
Ana: I love working with Al Carlson at Gary’s Electric. I used to really struggle with vocal recording. He knows how to work with me to get the mix and effect right in my headphones so I can get the vibe right and sing on key. He makes it fun, fearless and easy to be creative.
LG: I had met with Al and knew he was very laid back and easy to work with so he ended up taking over the engineering duties after Jorge Elbrect went on tour with Airel Pink. I’m really happy Ana was comfortable doing her vocals right. The album took so long due to budgets and schedules that most of the time I was very stressed out for most of it but the best feeling is always when you finish a mix or get one back from someone else and hearing it for the first time.
What was the first gig you attended?
Ana: The first gig that mattered was The Ocean Blue at the old 9:30 Club in D.C.
LG: Seeing Greg Dulli with The Twilight Singers at Black Cat in D.C. on the night Elliot Smith killed himself was just devastating and so emotional.
I think going to the 1st Siren Festival in Coney Island was magical too seeing all these bands that would later go on to be in the Brooklyn Scene. (TV on the Radio, Saul Williams, Blonde Redhead, Oneida, Ambulance LTD.)
If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?
Ana: Well I just released a song with John Fryer (NIN, Depeche Mode, This Mortal Coil) who mixed our first record on a project called “Black Needle Noise” and did a song called “And Nothing Remains”. I wrote and recorded it during the same time of finishing Beyond Desire and it was a very creatively challenging and rewarding side project to work on. I’m beyond excited that our new album will be released on vinyl soon too!
LG: I would like to work with A.R. Kane. Because now that we’re friends with them it might actually be possible. They were very influential upon us and they are suddenly active again after all these years.
We are also collaboration with our friends Monogold playing on a local TV show upstate before our appearance at O+ festival in Kingston NY.