R.E. Seraphin

R.E. Seraphin

Fool's Mate

Take A Turn

***"R.E. Seraphin’s songs live in shadows and ambiguity. The Bay Area musician builds raucous, large-scale rock songs, then hushes them to ghostliness around intimate, murmuring vocals that tickle the inside of your ear. Here are anthemic choruses, amp-jumping rock licks and buzzing propulsion that echo through dream corridors, just out of reach. Fool’s Mate is Seraphin’s second-full length under his own name, following the debut Tiny Shapes from 2020 and a pair of EPs, A Room Forever and Swingshift. Denser, darker and more rock-oriented than his previous material, it was recorded with Jason Quever of the Papercuts at his home studio in Crockett, California. Seraphin had been playing with a full band as the lockdown eased, and this album reflects the live chemistry that he’s developed with his crew: guitarist Joel Cusumano (Sob Stories, Body Double), drummer Daniel Pearce (Al Harper, Reds, Pinks, & Purples), bass player Josh Miller (Chime School, Extra Classic), and keyboardist Luke Robbins. Seraphin, Pearce and Miller ]== recorded the basic tracks live, then added Robbins’ keyboards in overdubs. In addition, Seraphin’s frequent collaborator Owen Adair Kelley of Sleepy Sun contributed acoustic and slide guitars, while his wife Hannah Moriah sang background harmonies. It is very much a rock album, with big Spector-esque arrangements and squalling guitar solos. And yet, it also digs into the shifting currents of the subconscious, incorporating snatches of dreams, half-remembered phrases from books and warped memories and imaginings into its textures. 'The lyrics are meant to evoke a sense of corporeality—there...

R.E. Seraphin

Swingshift

Mt. St. Mtn.

***San Francisco Bay Area guitar pop stalwart R.E. Seraphin returns with his EP Swingshift, a joint release via Mt. St. Mtn, Tear Jerk (Australia), Dandy Boy Records (US cassette) and Safe Suburban Homes (UK cassette). The seven-track home-recorded EP, featuring both originals and inspired takes on songs by The Wipers and Television Personalities, finds Seraphin joined by colleagues Matt Bullimore (Mantles), Joel Cusumano (Cocktails), Yea-Ming Chen (Dreamdate, Yea-Ming Chen and the Rumours), Jasper Leach (Tony Molina) and guitarist Owen Kelley (Sleepy Sun).   With the onset of COVID lockdowns, Seraphin rapidly changed his approach to recording, tracking all basics on his iPhone and working with his collaborators via share networks. Rather than feeling constricted by the process, he found a new freedom. “Now, I could record whatever I wanted in my bedroom and send it to whoever I wanted, free of any intraband politics,” he says. “Recording something as I’m writing it has an immediacy that really works for me.” The resultant EP A Room Forever found wide acclaim in the online blog world, firmly establishing Seraphin as a dynamic, multifaceted new voice in independent music.  Seraphin returned to his room and trusty phone last spring to craft his most ambitious work yet in Swingshift. Densely layered, the EP’s sheen brings to mind The Replacements gone psychedelic, Cheap Trick gone to Mars, Cleaners from Venus if they bothered to mix their records. Looking to move on from the muted earth tones dominating much underground music today, he goaded...

R.E. Seraphin

A Room Forever

Mt. St. Mtn.

***Fresh off the heels of his debut Tiny Shapes, R.E. Seraphin has followed up with a short and sweet digital EP — A Room Forever. Featuring six acoustic-driven, but deeply melodic songs (including a cover by Luna), A Room Forever is every bit the small-scale rock triumph as its predecessor. Inspired by the southern gothic vignettes of Breece Pancake and the melodic guitar interplay of The La’s and Television, Seraphin recorded these songs in his home in one short spurt. Long-distance contributions from co-conspirators Owen Adair Kelley (Sleepy Sun), Matt Bullimore (The Mantles), and Yea-Ming Chen (Yea-Ming & The Rumors), help elevate the tunes from homey demos to top notch pop. Limited edition of 100 copies.

R.E. Seraphin

Tiny Shapes

Mt. St. Mtn.

***Tiny Shapes is the debut album of ex-TALKIES frontman, RAY SERAPHIN. Recording under the almost-alias R.E. SERAPHIN for the first time, Seraphin’s Tiny Shapes is paisley pop meets guitar-centric post-punk. R.E. Seraphin’s lyrical point-of-view is both cynical and sentimental—falling somewhere between The Replacements and The Feelies circa The Good Earth. Musically, jangly yet sturdy instrumentation collide with hushed vocals. This approach is best heard in opening cut “Today Will Be Kind”—a tune that offers a hopeful view of love gone sour. Engineered and co-produced by JASPER LEACH (Tony Molina) and mastered by MATT BULLIMORE (THE MANTLES), Tiny Shapes was written following a move from Austin to the Bay Area. While re-acclimating to life back in his hometown, Seraphin enlisted original Talkies rhythm section, OWEN KELLEY (SLEEPY SUN) and PHIL LANTZ (NEUTRALS, COCKTAILS) to help develop his songs.