New Snowglobe Album - Oxytocin - Plus Interview

A surprising thing happened in the year that Snowglobe has been broken up: they made another record. Well, sort of. When I first received a copy of the record earlier this spring it was labeled Brad-globe and his Exploding, Traveling, Jumping, Amphibious Friends. Oxytocin was released nationally this week and was the 9th most added record on college radio in May. Touted as a solo project for Brad Postlethwaite, but still released under the name Snowglobe, the idea is to have the other members follow suit with his own solo directed albums. A record release will happen tonight at the Hitone billed simply as Brad Postlethwaite.

Although Snowglobe had a loyal following and were considered on-the-verge, the pressures of approaching the end of his twenties and realizing that making records wasn't exactly paying the bills was becoming more apparent to Postlethwaite, so he told his band mates that he planned to stop touring and return to the University of Memphis to prepare to enter their PhD. program. In the eyes of co-leader Tim Regan, Postlethwaite was in essence quitting, so Regan, who very much wanted the band to continue, quickly found a replacement in Luke White of the Coach and Four. However, before the addition was even announced, drummer Jeff Hulett decided that he had also tired of the road and planned to begin working on a solo project. Regan packed up and moved to Knoxville and as far as anyone knew, that was the end of Snowglobe. But according to Postlethwaite, he never realized that he was quitting the band.

"I was very confused as to what was actually happening with Snowglobe, because I wasn't able to continue with the way things were going" he says. "There was this kind of all or nothing thing going on, I had to be able to drop everything I was doing or just not be in the band."

In addition to the break-up of his band, Postlethwaite realized that he was at a crossroads in his relationship with his long-term girlfriend. With two major parts of his life in limbo, he found himself with a lot of free time on his hands. He began writing music and working on old Snowglobe songs that had been left off previous albums Doing the Distance and These Land Brains. He was still friends with everyone who had been in the band and they naturally fell back into the same patterns of playing together. Before the band broke up there had been an idea tossed around of each member directing a solo album under the Snowglobe moniker. Postlethwaite began accumulating so much material that he decided to reintroduce the idea.

In the end, although the record clearly says Snowglobe on the cover, the definition of what Snowglobe is has clearly been redefined. In addition to Hulett on drums, bassist Brandon Robertson and trumpet player Nashon Benford, a wide array of Memphis musicians pitched in including Luke White on guitar, Aaron Sayers on drums, Jonathan Kirkscey on cello, Mark Stuart and Chang Li on double bass, J.D. Reager on drums and guitar, Anna Acosta on violin, and John Whittimore on pedal steel guitar.

"I'd go into Unclaimed Recordings and it started off that whoever was there would play on the songs" says Postlethwaite. "At one point every drummer I had ever worked with was in the room so it as very awkward trying to decide who was going to play on it. The band is still changing drastically but I still decided to keep the name."

The outcome is the most cohesive album Snowglobe has released. Postlethwaite's songs have always been more orchestral pop than the southern rock output of Regan, and they flow more evenly without the change-ups in songwriter. With a plethora of instrumentation including flute, euphonium, violin, cello and even saw, the record is lush and layered, upbeat and melancholy as it explores Postlethwaites' relationship not only with his girlfriend but with his family and friends. Subject matter includes growing older, missed opportunities, and, of course, love. The album is named after what is known as the love hormone.

"Oxytocin is this hormone that kind of, well they don't know exactly what is does, it's not like a hormone can make you love someone, but it's involved with sex, with child bearing, with social memory" Postlethwaite explains. "They have experiments where people have been giving Oxcytocin nose spray and it makes them more trusting, but most of the experiments show that the hormone is directly related to monogamy."

So, the man who was left with nothing a year ago has not only reconnected with his band, but he was also able to sort things out with the girlfriend who acted as muse for many of the songs on the album. The only thing missing is Regan.

"I want him to be involved, maybe he won't do his own Snowglobe record, but I want him to participate and be part of the band like he was" says Postlethwaite. "We have probably 4 or 5 songs that were recorded for this that will go on the next record - I hope Tim is involved by the time the recording happens and things will iron themselves out."

Regan is still reeling from the irony of the situation, but he has moved on and formed a new band called Antenna Shoes, which coincidentally is backed by fellow Snowglobe Bedford and Robertson, along with White, Paul Taylor on drums and Andy Grooms on keys. The songs for his upcoming album were recorded with musicians in Knoxville, but as for a touring band, he figured he would come back to Memphis and recruit who he terms "the best."

"We have a record coming out on Houston Party records and a plan to tour Spain in October" says Regan. "But I love Brad's new record, and I love Brad. We'll see what the future holds."

Listen to two songs from the new album on their Myspace Profile.





http://scenestars.net/interviews/snowglobe-demise.htm

http://scenestars.net/interviews/Makeshift.htm

Snowglobe @ The Hi-tone 12/30/05