Over the glorious open skies of a boundless world wide web, Husbands have charged through a steady stream of glimmering, alluring indie-pop songs, unfettered by the gaping physical distance between its two figureheads. Danny Davis and Wil Norton live over a thousand miles apart, but the Oklahoma City natives’ creative chemistry isn’t weakened by the separation as Norton works towards a Ph.D. in Washington, D.C. Instead, the two embrace what free time they have, using the power of Dropbox to write songs at a rate that would make most musical projects jealous, and at a quality that would paint even more green with envy.
Since forming in 2013, the prolific pair have long put out songs as standalone singles once they were finished with them, which probably makes Golden Year — due July 2 — their first true LP, if you’re keeping count. Conceived to be performed as a four-piece band back here in Oklahoma (before life, sadly, got in the way), Norton describes it as Husbands’ most cohesive release to date — a notion reinforced with an early listen. More personal and frequently meta elements (music about writing music becoming an infinite loop of infectious joyousness) manifest themselves in polite post-punk guitar riffs sunbathing in airy vocal effects and lo-fi surfy hooks, like a Captured Tracks artist armed with a sunny Southern California smirk instead of a glum Brooklyn gaze. It’s stripped down and simplified in regard to the loop-heavy construction of the Afrobeat-tinged Achin’, but it carries much of the same tropical warmth all the same.
That timeless charm can be heard in their new single “Stay Gold.” Give the energetic offering a listen below.
