Photo by Landon Keaton Chapman
[dropcap]R[/dropcap]oughly 14 months ago or so we at the Boston Phoenix were preparing our latest “Class of…” feature in the Boston Phoenix, where the alt-weekly hyped our favorite new bands around town. At the top of my list was electro-pop duo MVSCLES, suggested at the time by Michael Bishop, then the booking agent of Brighton Music Hall. On the strength of two Summer 2012 electronic pop hits “sweet n sour” and “where you are,” we were feeling pretty confident in the duo leading an eclectic group that included Color Channel, Abadabad, The Deep North, the Susan Constant, Parks, and others.
Then, suddenly, the muscles of MVSCLES, Chad and Cat, relocated to Los Angeles. They were a “Boston band” no more.
But we kept tabs on the duo, and oddly, heard little else over the course of the next year.
Now as MVSCLES unveil their third single, the shimmering, self-released “somethin,” some light is shed on the duo’s recent plight. This week, Cat told Pigeons & Planes that a bad record label deal kept the band silenced for all of 2013.
She says:
“We’re not supposed to say who or give specifics. It’s part of the terms of being free with the rights to our music. Basically, they wanted to add songwriters and producers to our music. When we said no way they shut us out. They also wanted to change our band name. We had an identity crisis for a bit. We spent months having to stay quiet as a band and in the dark with our label. Chad worked as a mover. We kept polishing the productions and songs all year, and finally after over a year of being trapped they let us go. We’ve never appreciated the ability to release our music as much as we do now. We feel so thankful.”
And we’re thankful we get to enjoy some new tunes, which pick up right where the others left off.
Check out “somethin” via the MVSCLES Soundcloud:
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