PREMIERE | Pleasures, 'Softly Wait'

Reflections with pleasures; press photo courtesy of the band.

Seattle duo Pleasures have expanded into a quartet to create their most luxurious and opulent sound to date. The PNW rising pop staples have been putting together their most serene and savory full length to date with the following advance stream of their new Halfshelf Records album Softly Wait that promises to update all the AM cadences and adult contemporary pop that your parents and grandparents always sworn by; but you never understood (until way later). The crew of Aron Pollard, George Miller, joined forces with saxophonist Adrienne Kerr and percussionist/producer River Nason to develop music for cosmic slumbers, warm embraces, soft interludes of solitude and sheer organized senses of the subliminal.

Ripples and waves; press photo courtesy of Pleasures.

Softly Wait has it all, odes to the semi-responsible road soda road trips on "Cruisin With Drink", to celebrating the chemistry and camaraderie between like-minded creative friends on "Studio Seven". Northwest coastal escapes are painted in earnest on "Notes of the Beach", sentimental odes to ancient alliances ring true with "Old Friend", to showcasing the group's ability to distill those vague moments of familiarity into a sound like the aptly titled "Stuck in a Moment". Pleasures on this full-length live up to their chosen moniker by delivering the referenced sensations of their namesake on practically every coda on every cut on Softly Wait. Testaments to patience and the feelings associated with anticipating to see someone you love can be felt on "Waiting on Another", that takes the audience to the next candid narrative scene via "Closer to Love", right before the big title-track send-off brings the entire album back home to its thesis principles with a mantra of moods and Valentine's vignettes dedicated to those people that mean the most to us respectively.

Pleasures live bringing the shimmering rays of light; courtesy of the artists.

Pleasures delivered the following manifesto piece on the creation of their album Softly Wait:

It’s been a long time since bands like the Beach Boys and Steely Dan emphasized songwriting as their primary focus in the creation of their music. Now from the rainy city of Seattle comes Pleasures, a quartet who identifies with the DIY ethos and quickly rose to prominence for their ability to captivate both the cerebral music analysts and the dance-floor freaks. Songwriters Aron Pollard (guitar, vocals) and George Miller (bass, vocals) have teamed up with drummer/producer River Nason and saxophone player Adrienne Kerr to bring their infectious rhythms and clever arrangements to a European audience for the first time. Their most recent album, Softly Wait, contains a dazzling mix of influences, from Prince to Todd Rundgren to old soul and garage all rolled in together. In short, one of the most exciting modern records from the American DIY music scene to come out in the past twenty years. Whether you come to dance or to listen, you will certainly be enthralled!

Pleasures’ album Softly Wait will be available April 5 via Halfshell Records.

Cover art for the new Pleasures’ album Softly Wait; courtesy of the band.