It’s a picturesque summer night out on the town with you and a companion.  The vibe is reaching levels of ultimate leisure and there are no signs of wrapping up.  Why would you when the drinks at the bar you are sitting at are going down as smoothly as anything you have ever drank?  Following the release of two- new three-song EPs and the third dropping October 21, the crushedvelvets’ own Dani Meza and company have captured the purest essence of this backdrop with utter confidence.  “These songs are all about the groove,” Meza stated in a recent press release.

Today the good times continue with the crushedvelvets dropping the single “Neon Nights (Chinatown).”  Much like the rest of the songs that encompass the stellar EPs, “Neon Nights (Chinatown)” are much more than what people will take out from them initially.  “These new songs and style came about from necessity,” explains Meza. “After my medical incident (an aneurysm and two strokes) it changed my perspective on how to write and perform. This set of songs (across three EPs) was written while I was healing. Along with not being able to be as physical as I used to be, my vocal delivery had to be more laid back due to not being able to exert too much pressure on my neck while healing. So the slow, grooving pace of these songs was built and written to not overstimulate myself. At times you can hear the tension in the music and in my voice when I have to hold back.”

Influences for the three EPs according to Meza include Al Green, Marvin Gaye, and Prince, along with Serge Gainsbourg, Julee Cruise, and Erik Satie. “I wanted to combine my love of R&B and Soul music with surreal sounds and imagery,” he explains.

With this concept in mind, Meza knew he should reach out to producer Chris Schlarb, an artist in his own right with several releases on Sufjan Stevens’s Asthmatic Kitty label, as well as production credits for releases on Asthmatic Kitty, Joyful Noise, Jealous Butcher and many more. “Chris knew exactly what I was trying to achieve and gathered the players he knew would bring my new songs to life,” Meza says. Musicians Davin Givhan (Bass & Guitar), Ben Lumsdaine (Drums & Percussion), and Heather Sommerhauser (Keyboards & Backing Vocals) join Meza on Guitar, Keyboards, and Vocals.

“At our very first session, the songs seemed to fall into place on their own. I had no ambitions other than capturing the groove,” Meza remembers.

Following the release of these three EPs, Meza plans to take the songs he amassed during his healing and head back into the studio to start working on “one of the many albums I have ready to record.”

Photo Courtesy: Cristopher Cichocki