There’s a sense of melancholy running through the vibrant rhythms and colourful soundscapes of German four-piece outfit FLORAL SHOP. With the imminent release of their debut EP PARASOLS, the group from Münster and Cologne look back on a process that took them more than two years to complete as they handled the production, recording and mixing all by themselves. “A lot of the atmosphere we try to evoke is often already there in the first version of an idea, a guitar riff, a synth sound”, producer and keyboarder Marvin Mauelshagen explains, with singer Igor Franjić adding: “It’s putting together the pieces, painting the bigger picture that turned out to be a long and demanding challenge.”
In fact, listening to the 22 minutes runtime of PARASOLS gives an idea of the multiple strands FLORAL SHOP explore in its five songs. From its groovy opener Out Of Touch, where breezy bass and tropically tinted guitars show the band at their smoothest, to the explosive closer Anyplace, which ties together their influences in post punk and electronica, PARASOLS largely sounds like an organic affair, although most of it was initially created apart from one another. “We’ve rarely written songs by playing together in a room. Most of the creative work happens on the computer”, drummer Marvin Stecker recounts. “We produce and record parts individually and then upload them online so the others can share their thoughts and continue what someone else started.”
It is for that reason that each of the four members left his marks on different tracks, sometimes even on different instruments. “When you work on a track as a whole, you take more of a holistic view”, Igor notes. “It takes away the urge to squeeze every single riff into the song. We now exchange instruments on stage frequently and rarely play the parts we wrote ourselves.” The continuous input yielded tracks whose intricacies slowly unfold upon multiple listens – unusual time signatures, song structures and backing melodies are seamlessly woven into the tracks without pushing themselves to the front.
Produced by Marvin Mauelshagen, the EP’s first half sees FLORAL SHOP develop their vision of groovy, textured indie pop, whereas the second half, produced by guitarist and bassist Simon Graefe, outlines an eclectic blend of electronica and guitar rock, trading the earlier poise with a youthful urgency. “A key issue during the making of Parasols was, ‘how far can we go without losing touch with pop?’”, Igor explains, “and although we are very proud that the EP is finally coming out, I feel like it is only a first step into exploring the great unknown.”
credits
released June 7, 2019
Written, recorded and produced by Floral Shop
Drums recorded at Gotteswegstudio A & engineered by Sebastian Blaschke
Mixed by Simon Graefe and Marvin Mauelshagen
Mastered by Bob Humid
Supported by Create Music with project funds from the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia.
When in 2016 Marvin, Igor, Simon and Marvin convened in a rehearsal space to form FLORAL SHOP, they combined their
individuals backgrounds as producers and multi-instrumentalists to create a flavour of atmospheric pop that branches into indie rock and electronica. Their vibrant productions have garnered support from blogs like NBHAP and Indietronica as well as college radios around Germany....more
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