Photo by Rachel Bennett Photography
On September 26, Smokey Brights will release their anticipated new album Dashboard Heat on Seattle-based non-profit label Share It Music. In alignment with Share It Music’s mission, a portion of the album’s proceeds will benefit the band’s chosen charity: The Vera Project, an all-ages nonprofit space committed to fostering personal and community transformation through youth-driven engagement in music and art.
The band is excited to release the album’s lead single “All In Who You Know” and its accompanying vibrant music video. The video was directed by frequent collaborator Travis Trautt and features the band fresh off a performance at the Moscow Ren Faire, engaged in an epic quest for a mythical object of dazzling power. “All In Who You Know” is on all streaming platforms for any playlist shares.
https://li.sten.to/smokey-brights_all-in-who-you-know
On the song, the band says:
“If corporations are destroying the world, but people make up the corporations, what if the people helped each other? Smokey Brights’ heater of a first single from their anticipated new album, Dashboard Heat, posits just such a proposition. The world’s first anthem for mutual aid via petty theft, this synth-laden banger punches up at celebrities and egg barons and reminds us that the power to push back lies in small acts of resistance that can happen anywhere, even the grocery store checkout line.”
The first composite solid rocket fuel that eventually launched spaceships was made with asphalt, effectively paving the way to the moon. Dashboard Heat embodies this funny little fact, using tough truths to slip the surly bonds of earth and, through hardship, touch the stars. Members Kim West (vocals/keys), Ryan Devlin (vocals/guitars), Luke Ragnar (bass/vocals), and Nick Krivchenia (drums) have crafted a ramshackle rocket of a record that touches upon cars, celestial forces, childhood homes, light and hope, darkness and grief. Produced by Andy D. Park in exchange for Ryan painting his recording studio, the album sees the band sonically shooting for the solar system while staying true to their grounded take on songcraft that has made them a mainstay of the Northwest scene.
The group released their first LP, Taste For Blood, in 2014, followed it up with Hot Candy in 2016, I Love You But Damn in 2020, and Levitator in 2023, with a constellation of EPs and singles sprinkled in between. While each successive release has garnered Smokey Brights more acclaim and attention – the Levitator LP and the Broken Too EP were ranked #50 and #81 respectively on KEXP’s Best of 2023 list – perhaps more important are the opportunities that have appeared as if by some musical magic. The group has four songs on the hit indie game Pacific Drive and recently recorded the soundtrack for the NPR podcast Let the Kids Dance! Along the way, they’ve racked up thousands of miles, both corporeal and cosmic, playing hundreds of shows locally, nationally, and internationally.
Smokey Brights have no intention of slowing down for the release of their fifth LP, Dashboard Heat. They filmed a stripped-down, sold-out two-night stand at Seattle’s Rabbit Box Theater, debuting the new record in its entirety. Even the physical record of Dashboard Heat is ambitious, stretching the terrene boundaries of vinyl into the celestial. The cover art from Brazilian surrealist illustrator Bruno Cesar features an Easter Egg for every song on the record, while the accompanying lyrical comic book sees Cesar sending the band on a trip through the silver age stars. Smokey Brights will be supporting all this astral ambition with terrestrial touring, hitting both coasts, the Southwest and the Northwest in fall 2025.
https://www.facebook.com/smokeybrights
