Boston and Brooklyn-based band Superblush was just beginning to perform live when the pandemic hit last year. In the absence of shows, the band poured their time and energy into recording new music, resulting in their brilliant self-titled EP released last week. On it is "Before I Wake," an uplifting track that has replaced my morning coffee.
The song is best described as the feeling of the warm morning sun shining on your face, carrying a hazy, ethereal sound that blurs the line between dreams and reality.
So, I'm not surprised when songwriter Huxley Kuhlmann tells me that it was written in the morning on a warm day. "I still feel a bit of that warmth whenever I hear it," he says. "This EP is, in a lot of ways, a celebration of the natural world and our connection to it, and this song is an important part of that idea."
The song was also recorded in the morning, with Kuhlmann on keyboards and guitar, Bella Komodromos on keyboards, Owen Leonard on bass, and Cole Hancock on the drums. Kuhlmann, Komodromos, and Leonard all provide vocals on the EP, including swelling, well-crafted harmonies that sound almost effortless. Kuhlmann assures me that while the song came together through a pretty fluid process, there were also challenges.
"I was beyond tired when it came time to recording vocals," he says. "Our producer Ryan Saavedra ended up running into the booth and hitting me with a pillow to wake me up."
The result is a sweet and extremely well-crafted song that carries the mellow energy of its creation. I can't wait to hear more from Superblush, and I won't have to wait long — they're working on an LP to be released later in the year. The band plans to announce a date this summer.
