speaking of the New Album ....

so since i mentioned yesterday that we've been busy working on the new album, i figured i'd give you all (all 4 of you, hi.) an update so to speak.

The songs themselves have been a mixed bag, ranging from our most downtempo, to our most lively. I personally have been listening to a lot of Neutral Milk Hotel, Arcade Fire and Wilco, while Matt's had The Beatles - Help!, Shout Out Louds, Shins in heavy rotation ... we've also been listening to local favorites The Exfriends and The Donkeys, as well. I think some sort of combination of these has started to shape the songs and sounds of the album while, of course, still staying in the confines of the "modlins sound". In addition, we've unearthed a few songs from the past. I, a song from a prior band, called "Monday Morning" (the song ... not the band) and matt unearthed one of the oldest songs we'd written together. we're talking about before we'd even made our first EP together. whether these songs will make it to the album, we'll wait and see, but they seem VERY promising.

So then, a few weeks back, our friend Mark came down and we headed over to Signature Sound to do yet another marathon recording session. We locked in about 5 more songs and along with the prior Signature Session, a Session in our living room, and one over at Lestat's to take advantage of their piano (it was consensual) ... that brings the working total of album potentials to ... 12?, not including 2 more songs that may or may not make the cut (still some writing and recording to do) .... so we'll see how it goes ...

(the control room)

we've been working fairly regularly at the house on trying different backup harmony ideas, percussion ideas ... most recently, i purchased a nord electro and it's been playing a key role in shaping some of the new material. so expect the keys to play a greater role in this new batch.

("how did that sound?")

if nothing else, we've been taking our time a bit more with this one rather than the previous ones that were more ".. and cut! Print It!" so hopefully it'll shine though. We're shooting for an early '09 release, so expect to see some some new material popping. Until then, we've got 2 more shows to round out the year, one coming up in a couple weeks, so hope to see you all out around the town. And lastly, if you or your loved ones haven't signed up for our mailing list send an e-mail to mailinglist [at] themodlins [dot] com and we'll get you on there. and if you haven't picked up a copy of our now Award Winning "With Friends Like These", you can do so on our website or at M-Theory Records in Mission Hills, Off-The-Record in North Park, or Music Trader in Pacific Beach. Thanks everyone for sticking with us.

(the view from the couch)