The three males related once more a couple of yr later by means of a mutual buddy who occurred to be Zickau’s roommate. With every musician at a crossroads between dissolved tasks, they started formally collaborating, acting at dives and speakeasies in Boise whereas they discovered their footing as a trio. Improv jams and experimental units started to form what would turn into, upon their arrival in Denver in 2021, the art-rock band Shadow Work.
The band has hit its stride with the August 1 launch of its sophomore EP, Imago — a sulky, psychedelic assortment of 5 tracks. Following Shadow Work’s 2021 launch, Robben Island, the brand new EP is chock-full of Nava’s gravelly, impassioned vocals over Szlanic’s haunting, washed-out bass licks and Zickau’s far-away cymbal crashes and tom rolls.
For Nava, Imago represents a metamorphosis of Shadow Work’s sound, displaying how the lead singer’s long-held people influences organically seeped into the band’s id moderately than conforming to any particular style. “The primary file was me making an attempt to be part of Shadow Work,” Nava explains. “That was me making an attempt to suit phrases that made sense and have been true to me whereas working in a band setting, and I really feel just like the second file is me being extra snug within the band setting and having the ability to categorical my acoustic facet and my people nature as an artist. … I really feel just like the elements aren’t smashing collectively anymore.”
“We’re a little bit extra snug taking dangers now,” Szlanic provides, “as a result of there’s the underlying religion that it is gonna sound good.”
Shadow Work’s signature moodiness remains to be prevalent within the new work, however Imago sees the band additional embellishing its distinctive groove. Whereas tracks on Robben Island comprise comparable options, the group’s newer work appears to decelerate, with the musicians feeling extra snug of their collective id.
“I feel the primary file, Robben Island, was extra frantic — nearly like now we have to point out we’re this sort of musician and we’re additionally this sort of musician,” Nava displays. “And I feel this subsequent file is us being extra assured [in] the sound that we create collectively and letting these vibes proper out.”
The trio has large plans, together with including an area producer to its ranks to combine and match its subsequent challenge, which Shadow Work hopes can be a full-length album adopted by a global tour. However for now, Imago can be supported by a home tour beginning in Denver, with dates to be introduced quickly.
The Shadow Work members have lots of love for the Colorado group, together with their typical stamping grounds of Denver, Fort Collins and Boulder, and so they cite native musicians and followers as an impetus for showcasing their sound on tour. Figuring out the constructive reception the band receives after taking part in a present in Denver, Nava needs to “replicate precisely that” in different cities throughout the US.
Within the course of, the trio may even be spreading its philosophical ethos, which is heard on Imago and revealed within the songs’ titles and ideas. Even Shadow Work’s moniker is a nod to that, influenced by Carl Jung’s thought of self-exploration by unlocking repressed recollections or feelings and embracing them to return nearer to a completely realized consciousness.
“I feel after we all obtained collectively, our important focus was to make actually, actually cool and inventive music, after which secondary to that was changing into actually good associates who understood one another,” says Szlanic. “I feel that an individual’s an excellent foil for your self. You get an individual who comes from a totally totally different life than yours, and that entire totally different perspective simply shines gentle by yourself qualities which might be good, but in addition your insecurities and your downfalls.”
Through the present tour, Zickau has been studying Jung in his spare time.
“I’m paraphrasing, however [Jung] stated the psychological function of a buddy, or one among them, is that it’s extremely simple for a buddy to inform you one thing about your self that you’ve zero information of,” Zickau says. “And when you could have three individuals doing that for one another constantly, I feel it is solely proper that you’d find yourself with a extremely cohesive unit, creatively.”
Imago is offered now on all streaming platforms. Shadow Work performs the hi-dive, 7 South Broadway, at 8 p.m. Wednesday, August 23, opening for Pictoria Vark and Allison Lorenzen. Tickets are $12-$15.
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