Ten Million Lights
Portland, Oregon, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2010 | SELF
Music
Press
Lovers of shoegaze, dream pop, and '80s-'90s guitar rock will hear pleasingly familiar sounds on this album, but 10ML adds a compelling, upbeat dance sensibility to their familiarly gauzy, atmospheric melancholy and layers of guitar infused with subtle dissonance. The result is bliss-rock ambience with irresistible pop hooks. All of that is threaded with gorgeous ethereal melodies and male/female vocal harmonies. Entirely self-recorded and produced, this album is a testament to the DIY aesthetic and what can now be accomplished with home audio recording technology. This is a band to watch. - Baker & Taylor, CD Hotlist
Ten Million Lights is new band out of Portland that combines shoegaze guitars, male/female harmonies and trip-hop beats and that's somewhat reminiscent of School Of Seven Bells or M83 - but much noisier, at least as far as this single we are streaming is concerned, which almost sound like some kind of industrial shoegaze (interesting combination!). The band's debut record came out a couple of weeks ago. - The Deli Magazine
Ten Million Lights just released their debut self-titled, self-recorded, drummer-less album, and it sounds like it’s not a debut, produced in a studio, and with a drum…well, a good drum machine. But no, programmer/guitar Eric Block and the band decided to put their money towards publicity. Good move.
10ml’s panned mix of Emily Logan’s caramel vocals and Ryan Carroll’s ashtray mouth resonates over eerie, well-layered guitars, but the metronome hi-hats make this release perfect for driving through the crisp Willamette breeze of autumn. “Kill Yr Idols”, 10ml’s single, is a total departure, a nod to the mascara-caked alternative scene of the 90s. “Kill Yr Idols” provided the opportunity for Logan’s voice to develop inside her chest – a smoky, full-bodied pour of elixir lips. I found it quite refreshing that I was enjoying a dance song that relied little on synthetic instruments, but mostly on cutting, angular chords.
In each song, 10ml reminds that you they have preserved the organic nature of their album. Though they may have a drum track that is never homeless or late to practice, a keyboard only quietly weaves through blades of guitar lines carefully written to match the mood and direction in this release akin to the last call in the alleyway bar. - Northwest Adventures in Audio
Ten Million Lights is a new act commanding attention amidst the buzz of the Portland music scene. Combining the musical inspirations of Ryan Carroll, Eric Block (both formerly of Saturna) and Rose City newcomer Emily Logan, Ten Million Lights fuses the best parts of T-Rex-style psychedelica, beat-heavy 1990's electro-rock, and a uniquely Portland DIY sensibility. The outcome, with alternating male-female vocals in tight harmony with distorted guitars and programmed beats, is dreamy, energetic, and nothing short of a revelation. Don’t take my word for it, though – download their first single “Kill Yr Idols” for free and find out why tonight’s release show for their self-titled debut album demands your attendance. - Just Out
Discography
Shine So Bright (10/02/2020)
Drummer's Dream (2018)
Sour Oranges (2018)
Bellicose (2018)
Ephemera (2017)
Ten Million Lights (2010)
Photos
Bio
Ten Million Lights are the juxtaposition of beauty and noise. Existing to fulfill their need to get loud and a craving of catharsis, they create epic psychedelic soundscapes combining heavy guitars and rhythms with beautiful melodies and harmonies. This “noisy dream-pop and psych-tinged shoegaze,“ as The Portland Mercury calls it, is set to explode with their latest release, Shine So Bright in the fall of 2020.
The Portland, OR quartet made up of Ryan Carroll (vocals), Eric Block (guitars), Russ Ellis (bass) and Paul Hardie (drums) have a unique chemistry fueled by their shared love of motorcycles, guitar pedals and building things (like their practice space, personalized recording equipment, and lights!)
Ryan and Eric have been performing together since 2003. The duo launched Ten Million Lights in 2009 after the implosion of their band Saturna during a west coast tour with Bob Mould. Soon they welcomed Emily Logan (Urban Wildlife) into the fold and in 2010 the trio debuted their self-titled. They began regularly gracing stages of the Pacific Northwest like Doug Fir, Wonder Ballroom, and The Star Theater in Portland, as well as Neumos and The Sunset Tavern in Seattle opening for bands like The Shivas, Pete International Airport (Pete from The Dandy Warhols), The High Violets, and shortly thereafter enlisted Russ Ellis (The Scotch Greens) on bass and drummer Scott Smith (The Pink Snowflakes).
In 2015 they went into Revolver Studios (Ty Segal, King Tuff, Joel Gion, David J) to begin work on their follow up LP, Sour Oranges which was mixed by Russ’s brother Brian Ellis (Astra, Black Moth Super Rainbow) and mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk (Wooden Shjips, Crocodiles, Moon Duo). Ten Million Lights released Ephemera, an EP compiling remixes and covers from the three-piece era and in 2018, the five-piece released the Bellicose EP, the Sour Oranges full-length and the Drummer’s Dream EP featuring covers the band performed at Nuggets Night. Later that year, Scott returned to his native Olympia, and Emily decamped to Seattle. Ten Million Lights responded by recruiting Paul Hardie (The Separatists); a drummer with the gusto to help take the band in a heavier direction.
In the spring of 2020, sequestered in the shadows of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the progresive movements brought on by social injustice, 10ML finished the Shine So Bright EP, showcasing an emotional rollercoaster of desperation, rage, hope and finally peace.
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