This Spring, Southeast Michigan band The City Lines returns offering singer/songwriter Pat Deneau’s second album of Midwestern power pop anthems and anecdotes, in a refined style that increasingly feels like Bruce Springsteen if he were backed by Jimmy Eat World. Analog Memories is scheduled for release on April 27, on all major streaming services and can be pre-saved on Spotify now.
With a fondness for ’90s alt-rock guitars and rowdy singalong choruses, these songs crank up the introspections and build solidly upon the momentum of the band’s 2021 debut, Waiting on a Win. Drawing on Deneau’s potent life experiences as a father, a husband, a career firefighter, and a member of the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Analog Memories is an airtight collection of short stories that charges straight at the sophomore slump and jumps over it on a dirt bike. “Looking back far enough,” he sings, “so I can move forward. Covered a lot of ground, but this road feels brand new.”
Among these tightly-woven sonic stories is the album’s first single, “Where I Want To Be, which introduces Deneau’s new rhythm section in explosive fashion and sets the energetic tone for what’s to come.
In revealing the creative origins of the first single, Deneau says, “‘Where I Want to Be’ was actually the first song that came to fruition for this album. It’s about a spiritual moment I had standing in the Au Sable River outside of Grayling, Michigan, last spring while on a fishing trip. I was trying to change the way I had been feeling coming out of the pandemic and into a new chapter of life as a father. I remember digging my heels into the sand while the cold water pushed against the back of my legs. This tune is about persistence, seeking truth, and finding the things that feel right for me. There is something magical about the healing powers of mother nature and this is the best way I could describe that feeling with a guitar in my hands.”
Photo by Anastasia Mckendrick
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