SAME SIDE - ANNOUNCES ALBUM "OH NO"
Same Side has announced the sophomore album "Oh No" will be set for release on the 2nd February 2024 on Pure Noise Records. The beautifully fragile single "Cruise", is available to stream HERE or you can watch the visualiser.
Same Side is the solo project of Kevin Geyer and is yet another entry into his set of far-reaching musical projects: the overdriven alt-rock of underground torchbearers The Story So Far, the indie-meets-pop-rock supergroup Pile Of Love and the ‘90s-leaning jangle quartet Elder Brother. All his endeavors represent distinct parts of his artistic personality, but Same Side’s sophomore LP, Oh No, is perhaps the most authentic encapsulation of the Bay Area singer/guitarist’s musical soul these days: lush acoustic guitars, tempered energy, and wholly vulnerable songwriting.
Produced by longtime collaborator Ben Hirschfield, the songs on Oh No took shape at Geyer’s downtown San Francisco practice space (“I wanted to find a spot where I could make noise and not annoy my fiancé,” he says with a laugh), where he retreated in 2022 to write new music for The Story So Far but soon found himself diving deep into the sparse instrumentation and delicate melodicism he toe-dipped into on 2021’s In Place.
The resulting 10 tracks carry with them a sense of artistic purity that springs from first-impulse inspiration, the sound of a songwriter chasing an idea from its earliest noise to its fullest potential. “My gut instinct is to just take whatever comes out and then try to make it as good as possible,” Geyer says. “The innocence stems from not trying to be so serious about everything and instead just let it happen.”
As such, the songs on Oh No aren’t overwrought, instead warmly colored by place-and-time vignettes: the sort of moments that feel big and important when you’re in them but eventually fade with time. The aptly named, hypnotic “Cruise” recounts the time Geyer’s car was stolen while The Story So Far were on Coheed and Cambria’s S.S. Neverender cruise, while album standout “What You’re Missing,” awash in campfire calm and atmospheric production, describes the stomach-dropping feeling when the band bus slams on its brakes on an overnight drive. Elsewhere, Geyer unfolds deep-seated childhood insecurity on the title track, then spins a tale of an imaginary wedding fueled by one too many trips to the bar to dull his anxiety on droning earlier single “Now.”
“Thematically, there tends to be some sort of playful dread with my lyrics,” he says. “You sort of feel like, ‘Oh no, here we go again.’ But ultimately, you can’t just sit around and wait for things to get better. You have to get over it and move on with life.”
That commitment to not dwelling on life’s could’ve-beens ultimately underpins every musical decision Geyer makes on Oh No, intrinsically trusting his instincts and working hard not to overthink any part of the process. If it felt right, it made it into the songs, and this sense of inner peace makes for an album that puts his powerful spirit of self-belief front and center.
“Whether that makes for better art or not is really irrelevant,” he says matter-of-factly about his songwriting approach. “It feels good to have a space where I can do what I want. It’s not meant to be the pinnacle of how good a song can be. Instead, it’s about making a song my own – having an outlet that feels less about the outcome and more about the process.”
