Brooklyn-band Psymon Spine have released a new single, the infectious “Boys” which exemplifies the band’s unique ability to craft music that is both introspective and danceable. The track was written after the band’s Sabine Holler moved to Berlin but she lends her voice to the song:

Cycling around and I’m going to lose it 

It’s never too late 

to know what I’m not supposed to show

Around her dreamy vocals guitars tweak out, a strident run of synthesizers. All of it creates a feeling of psychic unease. “By nature every Psymon Spine song must be a little cheeky to bypass our own self-criticism, but in reality ‘Boys’ is just a very earnest song about friendship,” the band notes. “Early on in the pandemic Sabine moved back to Germany and we weren’t sure what was going to happen, either to us as a unit or to the entire world. We went to Peter’s childhood home in Boston for a few days and fleshed out a demo that Michael had started a couple weeks earlier. We sent it to Sabine who almost immediately replied with the same vocal take you hear on the song today.”

Along the way Psymon Spine became a figure in the Brooklyn dance scene through throwing the immersive art and dance parties of the Secret Friend series. Meanwhile, Prebish’s work in dream-pop band Barrie—who broke out in 2019 with the excellent debut Happy to Be Here following a string of buzz-making singles—led him to meet singer and multi-instrumentalist Sabine Holler, who eventually joined Psymon Spine’s ranks after they both parted ways with the rest of Barrie.

Their latest LP Charismatic Megafauna finds Psymon Spine embracing and exploring left-field electronic sounds ranging from disco’s high-energy rhythmic breakdowns to the upward build of early techno and motorik’s indelibly incessant pulse. The band put their own loopy and addictive stamp on the sounds of the past throughout, with surprises at every turn and the type of lush synth work that could only come from such brilliant students of dance music.

Thematically, Charismatic Megafauna—which takes its title from a biological term passed down from Prebish’s biology professor father—reflects on the changes the members of Psymon Spine have experienced in their lives over the past several years. “There’s a lot of recovery on this album,” Prebish explains. “It’s music about catharsis and being together. We’ve all had a crazy few years, and for all of us this band is a safe haven—a community, and a way to create something about what we were experiencing.” 

Psymon Spine recently announced a U.S. tour with dates kicking off this Friday, October 13 in Madison, WI and concluding with a hometown show in Brooklyn, NY on October 26.   The band will be playing fan favorites, previewing new songs including “Boys,” and also performing tracks off their 2021 album Charismatic Megafauna:

10/13 – Madison, WI @ UW Madison

10/14 – Northfield, MI @ Carleton College – The Cave (private event)

10/15 – Galesburg, IL @ Knox College

10/16 – Chicago, IL @ Color Club

10/17 – St Louis, MO @ The Sinkhole

10/18 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement

10/21 – Memphis, TN @ Wiseacre Festival

10/26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Alphaville

Photo Courtesy: Nicole “Neptune” Miller