Sneakpeek - The Kind Hills - Amon Tobin
Los Angeles-based psychedelic synth-pop duo Sneakpeek have shared a video for their single “Green Light.” The track is featured on their long-awaited sophomore album, Scene Within A Dream, which dropped earlier this summer.
Discussing the inspiration for “Green Light”, Sneakpeek’s Dora Hiller noted, "I was reflecting on an alien experience I had where I was camping in the middle of nowhere with some friends years ago, where we all saw a bright green shining orb. It circled all around us and then flew away insanely fast through the darkness."
Sneakpeek released their self-titled debut album in 2013 on Burger Records, with the LA Times hailing it as a, “noisy nine-track album offering up heavy, druggy guitar riffs that’d make Kurt Vile (or Lou Reed) proud.” While that record combined elements of dream pop with grungy, garage-rock sludge, Scene Within A Dream finds Hiller and Aric Bohn heading in new directions.
Surrounded by walls of synthesizers and vintage drum machines in their Glassell Park studio, Dora and Aric leaned into their psychedelic abandonments, pushing their mostly analogue gear to its limits. “We love obscure electronic music from the 70s, 80s + 90s,” notes Hiller, “and wanted to experiment with a new sound that embodied those elements but with our own spin on it.”
Throughout Scene Within A Dream, Sneakpeek explores the world of dreams, the mysteries of nature, mortality, magic and manifestation; old Hollywood studios, non linear timelines, synchronicity, and paranormal experiences, leading the listener out onto a surreal, dreamy dancefloor.
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The album Clusterluck by The Kind Hills features 10 warm and relaxed indie-tunes that are the perfect soundtrack for a chilled picnic in the countryside, an exhausted or hung-over moment in bed or a long, beautiful road trip.
The band call it 'music to fall asleep to' and they mean that in a positive way. Some influences are obvious (Beach House on ‘Summer’ or Ducktails on ‘Volunteer’) but on all tracks the band essentially plays their own, laid-back, dreamy indie pop. Standout tracks are 'waiting for the good times' and 'let youth take over'.
About The Kind Hills: Hailing from all corners of the globe, The Kind Hills stand as a testament to the transcendent power of music. The band, a cohort of long-standing friends who met while studying in Australia, now create captivating soundscapes from their respective homes worldwide. Their innovative approach to songwriting and recording has given rise to a deeply personal yet universally relatable body of work. The Kind Hills’ new album, Clusterluck, released on July 28, is a magnificent embodiment of this ethos.
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When Amon Tobin released debut Figueroa album The World As We Know It on his Nomark label in 2020 Trebuchet magazine described it as a “landmark record” and the legendary writer Kris Needs wrote “Tobin has taken folk’s ongoing evolution and pushed it another giant step forwards.”
Now as that album celebrates its third birthday, there is a new Figueroa video being released this week as a taster of the second, as-yet-untitled album which is planned for next year.
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