The Silhouette Era

There's a particular kind of surfy dream-pop that's emerged in the San Francisco indie scene over the past few years, and it's a genre that runs the gamut: There's sunny, aesthetically pleasing cruise-to-the-beach music; there's the cheeky, chunky, retro-garage variety.

It's all fun. But when this kind of indie pop really holds our attention it usually means there's some soul and some sadness behind it (shades of Brian Wilson's most central contradictions, anyone?). That's certainly the case with this new single, "Devotion," from S.F.-based four-piece The Silhouette Era. After drawing us in close with somber church organs, singer-guitarist-keyboardist Carlos J. Gonzalez picks up an emotion and runs with it, working a plaintive surf-guitar riff to its edges, transmitting wistfulness within a single, extended note, as shimmery backup vocals and a heartbeat of a drum build behind him.

This is the first single off the band's second full-length, Beacons, which will be out this June on Oscillator Records; they'll celebrate this Thursday, March 5 with a single release party at El Rio, flanked by Panic is Perfect and Bare Bear for an all-around poignant indie pop evening. Give the new video a watch/listen below. - SF Weekly

Local dream wave act The Silhouette Era is coming off of a spurring start to the new year. With the success of a a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of vinyl for their upcoming album Beacons, to the release of their new music video for their just released single, “Devotion.”

“Devotion” is a mix of elegant church organs, dreamy guitar riffs and charming vocals. Lead singer Carlos J Gonzalez mixes together feelings of loss and heartbreak flawlessly, and melts them into an otherworldly background of synths and melodies. The track is the perfect of example of what it feels like to dance and move to the sound of your sadness. The song is airy, introspective and hauntingly memorable. Good luck not humming it for the rest of your day. - The Bay Bridged

As listeners, we are naturally drawn to songs where dichotomy defies the natural order to create harmony. The dichotomy of sound that The Silhouette Era implement on their new single “Devotion” manifests itself as one giant earworm. On the one side you have an assembly that would typify itself as standard indie-rock fare: uptempo drumming, driving bass lines, and wet-but-clean toned guitar lines that dart and weave their way in and out of the arrangement. But on the side you have the towering majesty of church organs that take control of the sonic landscape without overpowering them. When you put these two sides together, you end up with a song that will spin through your speakers for hours…and through your head for days. The San Francisco-based outfit is preparing to release their second LP Beacons this Summer via Oscillator Records. - Striker Bill

The Silhouette Era hail form San Francisco and are exponents of a genre called dream wave which is a cousin of shoegaze, the difference being how much you stare at your shoes when you’re dancing and the speed with which you nod your head when your eyes are closed. Listening to new single ‘Devotion’ actually had me looking to the skies rather than my shoes such is it’s beautiful and epic sound.

‘Devotion’ is first single off upcoming album ‘Beacons’ which is out in May 2015 on Oscillator Records. ‘Beacons’ is the follow up to 2012’s ‘Movements’ and on the evidence of new single ‘Devotion’, the band have made a giant leap forward in sound. Dream wave is all about mood pieces, albums being more akin to film soundtracks than ‘normal’ albums and the song delivers a surprisingly grand and sweeping soundscape in less than 3 minutes. The band describe their sound as:

" [their] own brand of surf pop; not that of hot summer nights, but of freezing dawns and the sobering ennui that can only be found when you look, bleary-eyed out into an infinity of grey sky and ocean."

‘Devotion’ certainly fits that bill. The song comes in with epic organ almost instantly getting the hairs on the back of your neck on end. The drums and bass then kick in accompanied by a fabulously simple but incredibly infectious guitar line, hinting at the aforementioned surf pop. The amazing trick the band pull off is to take relatively simple individual elements and merge them together to create an incredible and joyous sound which I would choose as the song playing in the movie of my life in the scene where I ran jubilantly down a street having just met the woman of my dreams.

The video for ‘Devotion’ is simple and engaging, a straightforward band video, the band looking very smart all suited and booted playing on stage whilst singer Carlos J Gonzalez struggles with something backstage before coming on temporarily, doing his bit of vocals and then returning backstage to fret about something – must be that ennui. He certainly doesn’t need to fret about whether or not ‘Devotion’ hits the mark as it scores a bullseye.

Upcoming album ‘Beacons’ contains ten tracks produced by Jay Pellicci at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco that “grapple with a whirlwind of death and heartbreak…perfect melodies of wet guitars and Gonzalez’s subdued, airy vocals”. On the evidence of ‘Devotion’ we could be looking at a great second album for The Silhouette Era – definitely one to watch for 2015. - Backseat Mafia

Local indie dream pop headliners, The Silhouette Era, are in full-throttle mode now that Findlay has shifted his focus onto the trio, taking a hiatus from his multiple side projects and brilliant one-man band Concave. As a result, the outfit can get ready to hit the studio and record its second full-length album, which should be completed by the year’s end.

TSE has already begun sprinkling in new tunes, which James says “go in a completely new direction,” in between material from their debut Movements. Half of their second set is all new songs.

Singer-guitarist Carlos Gonzalez wrote and demoed the first album by himself; this time, collaboration will be key.

Gonzalez, the primary songwriter, has already established it will be a concept album. While he has explained the concept to James and bassist Clay Payton, they’re still fairly unclear what the existential storyline means, but they’re sure they will understand it soon enough. - Monterey County Weekly