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Watch Overheard’s video for their brilliant new single ‘Return’; with lyrics inspired by Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life and music that entwines delicate moments with knotty catharsis, there’s a lot to love.
Originating in the Hudon Valley but now with members in both Kingston and Brooklyn, NY (read more about the band in their bio below), Overheard are a new name to me, and after being sent their new single a couple of weeks ago, I’m grateful to have been introduced to their music. They’re signed to the excellent Dromedary Records, an independent label whose old-school approach of just putting out music they love is something to be greatly valued in this day and age and Overheard’s offbeat sound fits in well with eclectic their roster. After hearing their new single, Return, you can understand how the band, not surprisingly, have managed to build up such a vibrant and supportive community around them.
Return is taken from their forthcoming album Intertwined, out October 25 on Dromedary Records. The lyrics were inspired by Merlin Sheldrake’s excellently mind-bending book Entangled Life (Merlin is the brother of Cosmo Sheldrake) while the sound more than lives up to the apt description of ‘shifting between delicate moments and knotty catharsis’.
The band’s Erin Barth-Dwyer, who also animated the video, shared:
“‘Return’ is about life and how we’re interconnected with each other and the world around us. The lyrics were partially inspired by the book, Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. In it there’s a passage where he talks about how we think of life-forms (including ourselves) as objects built out of matter – but in reality we’re actually systems or processes through which matter moves. As cells turn over in our bodies, the matter that we’re made of today is literally different from the matter that made us five years ago. This idea – that we’re all just a part of the same swirling soup of stuff – has really helped me reconcile with the concept of mortality.”
Video by Erin Barth-Dwyer with support from the Kennys.
Pre-Save Intertwined: https://hypeddit.com/b9f3wf
About Overheard
After becoming friends at a dive bar in Kingston, NY, guitarists Erin Barth-Dwyer and Will LaPorte made a drunken vow to play music together. Unlike most promises of artistic link-ups made by 20-somethings, they committed. After adding Kenny Thomas on bass guitar, the group chose the name Overheard for reasons lost to time.
Having formed just before the COVID-19 pandemic, the band spent most of their first year together engaging in socially-distanced backyard practices. During this time, they honed Barth-Dwyer’s tender, folk-leaning songwriting and LaPorte’s tendency toward distortion and hard rock into original songs. Post-lockdown, the band went on to perform at many Hudson Valley staples, including Kingston’s Tubby’s, Catskill’s Avalon Lounge, and Woodstock’s Colony. After releasing their debut single ‘Doesn’t Matter’ in May of 2022, the trio was approached at a house show by Kenny Hauptman (Top Nachos, Larry Locust). Having heard the ghost of his future parts in their performance, Hauptman was an immediate fit, rounding out the group on drums.
Overheard has become known locally for their ‘soft-then-hard’ style. Barth-Dwyer brings intricately finger-picked guitar and a voice that ebbs between soft lullaby and emotional belt, delivering lyrics of being, memory, and home. LaPorte, providing backing and occasionally lead vocals, writes of childhood and what it leaves us, underscored by tastefully chaotic, overdriven guitar melodies. Thomas carries the group through its moments of peace and aggression with their lush and harmonious bass lines, while Hauptman is either a smooth resident of the pocket or a blonde blur behind the kit – all while providing backing vocals.
After a year of dialing in their sound, the band connected with Hauptman’s long-time friend, producer and local musician Dylan Nowik (Camp Saint Helene, Steady Sun). In January of 2024, they spent a week at Dylan’s Pine Knoll Studio in Palenville, NY. Over the course of seven long days, many fresh pots (of coffee), and several sandwiches, the band and Nowik crafted Overheard’s debut LP, the forthcoming indie rock diary, Intertwined.
Pre-Save Intertwined: https://hypeddit.com/b9f3wf
Discover more: https://linktr.ee/overheard.music
