Sound it Out # 36: Earlimart – “97 Heart Attack” (MP3)
Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray make records as Earlimart and also help other artists make theirs. Aaron owns The Ship Recording Studio in LA, which evolved from a group of friends who liked to drink beer and play music to a place where artists from around the globe come to make records.
The studio employs the latest recording technology, but Aaron also likes to toy with old-school techniques.
Here he is sanding 500 pieces of wood for a homemade quadratic diffuser for the studio:
…And here’s that same diffuser on the cover of the new Earlimart record:
This is all to say that Aaron is around music-making all day and he sure knows how to write a song.
The new Earlimart record is called System Preferences and Aaron is releasing it in his own Ship Records digitally on September 18; an LP and CD release follows on October 16. This is Earlimart's first record in over four years and it’s a sad and beautiful bunch of songs.
“97 Heart Attack” is my favorite kind of Earlimart song, where Ariana and Aaron take turns with the vocals and tell a heartbreaking story. It’s not going to smash you over the head with massive hooks; Earlimart is more subtle than that. After a few listens though, the song starts to creep into your mind the way the best songs do…and stays there. I hope you like it.
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BONUS: Earlimart is one of my favorite bands, so our “E” beekeeping box bears their name. Please forgive my 5th grade-level painting skills.