On September 18, Altamont-based musical duo The Parlor releases their new album, Sun By Day | Moon By Night. With 20 tracks split into two parts, the album is an amalgamation of nostalgia, spirituality, and homage to the artists before them.
The husband-and-wife duo of Eric Krans and Jen O’Connor first met in college. They started creating music in 1998 as We Are Jeneric, a play on their names. They later renamed themselves to The Parlor, inspired by the name of the room in their house where they record their music in.
Eric described “The Parlor” as a big room with tall ceilings, the original main room to their farmhouse that later got extensions. It contains a unique mirror that came straight from the Delaware & Hudson railroad station located in Albany.
“There’s this big gilded mirror in the room and it’s just got this life to it,” He says. “So that’s where we’ve been recording and it felt like it was a part of our band. It just kind of has a nice reverb in here and it feels like it contributes some level of creativity to the music.”
During COVID, Eric reconnected with his former bandmates Justin Beauregard and Kevin Outland from his high school band. Upon getting together, they spent many sessions jamming together. Some of these jams made it onto the album.
“After the COVID lockdowns ended, we set up shop in ‘The Parlor’ and just launched into songs. Some of the music that’s on the record is from our first jam session in ‘The Parlor’ in 2021.” He says.
The original concept for the album did not have 20 tracks. But in the end, after inviting them back and gelling together musically, their recording sessions were too good not to put out.
“We would do a long weekend recording session and see what came out of it. That’s why it ends up being two records, we couldn’t figure out how to get it down. Everybody was just dropping in the different styles that have been a part of our music.”
Most of the inspiration came from plenty of alternative rock bands from the 1990s, basing it off of what he and Jen were listening to at the time. Bands such as Mazzy Star, Pulp, Alice in Chains, Pixies, Jane’s Addiction, and Nirvana were a few of their inspirations.
Eric describes Sun By Day | Moon By Night is a “90s college-radio psych dream” with influences of jazz, psychedelics, and surf rock. The album is split in two parts, with SUN consisting of 11 tracks and MOON consisting of 9 tracks. It features his former bandmates Justin Beauregard on the drums and Kevin Outland on the bass.
During the album’s production, Eric and Jen also engaged with Sufism, specifically with poets Rumi and Hafez. Their readings inspired Jen to write the song “Don’t Go Back To Sleep,” which is their favorite song from the entire record.
“Jen opened up a bunch of different poems from Rumi and Hafez and started grabbing a couple of different lines, mashed them into one long thing, and cherry-picked lines that rhymed together.” He explains, amazed by the unique songwriting style. “It was wild to watch because it was the first time she tried it.”
It’s not easy to choose from 20 tracks to release as a single. To Eric and Jen, each one deserves its own unique moment to the masses. Their next single, “Worcester County Laketown,” is out on July 23 and is based on Eric’s childhood town.
“I’m actually nervous about it because I’m like, ‘I don’t want my family to hear this one.’” He says. “I don’t even know that they’ll hear the darkness of it, but for me it means a lot.”
“Open Your Eyes, I Love You” is expected to be released after “Worcester County Laketown.” A free album release party is taking place at Indian Ladder in Altamont on September 11. Additionally, they will play a show in Eric’s hometown of Sturbridge, Massachusetts at Oakholm Brewery, which he is most excited about.
“They’re already starting to spread the word.” He says. “There’s a lot of people from my hometown that stayed in my hometown so I think it’s gonna be a reunion of sorts.”
Sun By Day | Moon By Night is out September 18. To pre-order the album on physical and digital, click here. The five singles are also available to stream on the platform.
Comments are closed.