EXCLUSIVE: Take A Cosmic Journey Into Crescendo’s ‘Unless’

Crescendo are an indie/dreampop trio from Los Angeles, CA comprised of Gregory Cole, Olive Kimoto and Jess Krichelle. When I first met Cole through social media back in August 2014, right before the release of the band’s debut album, Lost Thoughts, all I remember is him being so energetic and gracious for coverage of any kind. While most bands will share a humble ‘thank you’ and move on, I was quite shocked at how kind and friendly he was. I later learned of his mission, like mine, to create a community surrounded by music. When I recently told him I listened to the new record, Unless, the first thing he asked me was, “How did it make you feel? How was the experience?” and right then I knew that he was one of the few who just gets it – how music should be consumed vs. this short attention span notion of only releasing singles to please the masses.

In honor of the release of the band’s sophomore effort, Unless, out today, we asked Gregory to dive deep into the record and share his thoughts on what each track means to him in this exclusive (and rather, eccentric) track-by-track commentary. Stream the album below for the ultimate Crescendo experience!

Before we begin listening to the record, my favorite places to listen to the record was in the car, getting comfortable on a couch or in bed with headphones really loud. However when listening to it in the car, I did drive faster at times based on the music, so proceed with caution.

“Intro”

You hear the computer dialing in your spacecraft….. coordinates are set, and then the double SYNTHS DROP a MASSIVE chain of notes and blare the atmosphere! Bass line comes in, the rocket ignites, and then BOOM all the instruments EXPLODE! Where are you? Where is this record taking you….

“Repulsor”

Drums, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and GO! the planets you’re going to, the space ships you destroyed, the dance floor on the space station where you met your lover, how did it go? wait for the guitar solo, wait for it, and…… there’s the repulsor beam firing at everything simultaneously……

“Tell”

If you’re laying in bed while listening, close your eyes and allow yourself to fall through the clouds as long as you’d like. When you’re ready, pull your parachute for a safe landing….

“Last”

DANCE.

Gregory DEMANDS, “what takes you off…. what takes you off… what takes you off?”

Hope the surprise in the beginning didn’t scare you 🙂

“Haunted”

The room gets dark, very very dark. The guitars make it even darker than it already is…. something very very strange is happening…. Olive’s voice takes complete control casting spells in every direction…. the bass line comes in and the skeletons start dancing to the disco beat… slowly the bright lights from the exploding instruments starts to disappear….

“Said”

You feel a strong force possess your feet…. you’re tapping your foot to the beat and then suddenly the lead guitars push you into overdrive! Post-punk riffs firing from every direction! You’ve entered the diabolical dark dance of “Said.” Careful! Don’t get pulled over! Shake it up, shake it up! ZAP! DISAPPEAR!

“The Morning Sonata”

It’s okay, we’re entering your heart now….

“Space Cadet”

Close your eyes. If you have any energy left feel free to dance… What do you see?

“Pressure”

HOW CAN THIS GO ANY FASTER? This was one of the last tracks we worked on in the studio, it was apparent that we all felt the “Pressure” to make this record the best record possible, however instead of trying to be something we weren’t, we decided to use the pressure we were feeling and transformed it into creative energy further pushing our personalities into every inch of the track, transparent to the listener, and settling on being who we really were regardless of what people thought… ending up in heaven shortly after….

“Transformer”

SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DANCE IN SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRANSFORM INTO YOUR FAVORITE VERSION OF YOURSELF!!!! FIND A WAY TO GROW INFINITELY!!!!!!

“Yet”

The guitars will tickle your ears 🙂 and the drums want you to keep dancing if you can 🙂 Gregory’s voice takes a different direction singing on this track. The synths are alarming your entire space station of an emergency! What could it possibly be? Then you hear the door close……

“Softly”

Heal. Olive’s voice takes control one last time before the album ends… It’s almost over…. Gregory bids his final farewell… and off we drift back into space, when we’ll return is a mystery….. thank you for listening and we hope this record can take you to a very faraway place where you can heal and grow infinitely making all your dreams come true whether it’s love, space travel, disappearing into another dimension, or sweating out your worries onto the dance floor.

with love, Crescendo.

Unless is available now here.

Catch Crescendo at SXSW!

3/10 Phoenix, AZ – Rip’s Bar 3/11 El Paso, TX – The Lowbrow Palace 3/12 Fort Stockton, TX – The Garage 3/13 Denton, TX – 35 Denton 3/14 Austin, TX – Super Happy Fun Land 3/15 Dallas, TX – SX Foreplay 3/16 Austin, TX – SXSW 3/17 Austin, TX – Tellers 3/18 Austin, TX – El Sapo 3/19 Austin, TX – SXSW 3/20 Dallas, TX – City Tavern Downtown 3/22 Denver, CO – 7th Circle 3/23 Salt Lake City – The Dawg Pound 3/24 Boise, ID – Treefort Music Festival 3/25 Boise, ID – Treefort Music Festival 3/26 Seattle, WA – Barboza 3/31 Los Angeles, CA – Dreamgaze Festival