Taking its name from Orson Welles’ description of L.A. as “a bright and guilty place,” duo Bright & Guilty have released their first single “Soft Age” via Rainbow Blonde Records. 

Straddling the intersection of psychedelic hip-hop, cinematic soundscapes, woozy synth-pop, and percussive electronica, Bright and Guilty find a unified sound that’s defined by the contrasts the group’s name implies. Bloomington-born Brian Bender and Istanbul-raised Deniz Cuylan comprise the core of Bright and Guilty and are joined on “Soft Age“ by Obie-winning singer and avant garde composer Heather Christian. The forthcoming record store day release includes a remix by legendary producer koOol kOjAk featuring Tim Lefevbre.

“‘Soft Age’, the first single from our new project Bright and Guilty, is fruit born from north of a decade of the interdisciplinary collaboration by two dear friends. After finishing 2 movies and a Netflix show back to back to back, we needed to take a reprieve from the collective vision of collaborative making and fucked off into the studio for a month. That month became three months and that three months gave birth to 34 songs, the first of which is ‘Soft Age’. We were then paid a visit by magical genius collaborator Heather Christian she heard it and fell in love it and wrote all the lyrics and melody on the spot. Sonically, we are always inspired by strong contrasts and this song represents that ideal in a central way. Is it possible to make an architectural spectralism song inescapably hypnotic? We think so and hope you do, too.”