PREMIERE | Welcome Strawberry, 'Scared to Look'
The world of Welcome Strawberry's Cyrus VandenBerghe; photographed by Zachary Rodell.
Constrictions can be cool. Like the painstaking process of whittling down a lengthy rough draft to a refined, decidedly succinct work or combing through the expanses of one’s own personal art to excavate an emerald of their own intrinsic design. While our universe(s) are in many ways nearly unlimited in the extent of their reaches, the imposition of limitations in our own world and works can contribute toward a plethora of beneficial returns. Like the mantras that emphasize the importance of balances in our lives, striking the perfect measured doses of everything from media consumption to provisions and the like can lead to a better state of being and living in body, spirit and mind. So it goes for our endless creative pursuits: narrowing and honing in our focuses in alignment with mission statements and theses can illuminate our paths toward talents and bastions of beauty that we never thought possible.
These ideas and ascetic concepts factor in heavily to the world building bloom and plume of Welcome Strawberry’s brand new Scared to Look EP for the esteemed San Francisco imprint Cherub Dream Records. Led by Oakland musician Cyrus VandenBerghe, also of Still Ruins, the follow up to 2022’s self-titled debut places an emphasis on immediacy and introspection alongside the restrictions of excess. It’s an assessment of being the person we want to see in the mirror, the desire to curtail the things that no longer serve us and embody ideas, attitudes and energy in a fully realized sound that is present and tangible in all that we create. VandenBerghe–with the assistance of engineer/percussionist Daniel Baylis, vocalist Cheyenne Avant, Nick Bassett and Zac Montez on mixing and mastering–presents a prosperous place that surpasses the pit beyond all of our nagging fears; a sacred sanctuary where we can lay our burdens down; a point of respite; a proverbial safe space; the coordinates where the ego and superego intersect in a harmonious and ineffable congress.
Opening with the title track, "Scared to Look" leans into tones that emulate the emotional headspaces of that reach out to the heart of desires and everywhere we fall short of our own expectations. In the classic whirlwind Welcome Strawberry style, explorations of interior intonations are expressed outwardly in swirling synths and chords that intertwine with the lyrical delivery that presents paradoxes of darkness and light that underpin the frenetic infrastructures of our own desires. The exhibitions of untethered urgency breakout on the truly, madly, blistering "I'd Give Up Everything For You" that speeds through the unfulfilled wants of the soul in ways that only poetic pop music could ever properly convey in full. Cyrus frenetically races through the track with a vulnerable spirit of sacrifice and compromise that is willing to trade it all for something/someone that could be completely life changing.
Which leads to the big grunge-y and goth tinged "Smudge" that streaks with the kind of sultry cool and coal like eyeliner smeared in a crowded, hot and sweaty scene happening. Behind the big chunky chords is the yearning to feel, the need to experience the moment in all of its imperfect glory in a way that is uninhibited and unflinchingly honest. "Don't You Exist" blends sections of blasting skronk, abrasive and exclamatory guitars that are coupled with melodic movements that expertly matches unbridled dissonance with harmonious verses that sincerely rock with a whole lotta heart.
The ethereal time warp "A☆Men" features Cheyenne Avant on lead vocals and is the best single your favorite underdog college radio heroes from the 80s never ever recorded. Channeling the genius of immortal and otherworldly post-genre visionaries such as Elizabeth Fraser, Bilinda Butcher and more; this ballad brings Scared to Look full circle to a state of peace in a lush and poignant prayer that ascends toward a higher state of grace. Welcome Strawberry's latest release dares to venture into the depths of the psyche and the frightened places of extreme vulnerability, countering the fragility of humanity that arrives at a level of enlightenment that defies adjectives, descriptors and reductive language and alludes to the joyous tranquility of being safe at home in one's own beloved abode of safety and a benevolence everlasting.
In the static of screens and music making machines with Cyrus VandenBerghe of Welcome Strawberry; photographed by Zachary Rodell.
Cyrus VandenBerghe of Welcome Strawberry provided some exclusive insights on the inspirations and developments behind the making of Scared to Look:
This EP is the first project I've had to take into account a hard deadline. My drummer and recording partner was moving to Seattle with his partner (also my live synth player/vocalist), so we had a limited amount of time to get the instrumentation recorded. Urgency lent itself to the songwriting and recording process as ideas had to be more concise: songs relied more on a few crucial parts versus spending time layering a bunch of textures that may or may not be used in the final mix. The material has a more live band approach than the studio experimentation tinkering of the last album.
This sense of time quickly passing paralleled with the themes of the songs. Scared to Look is about avoiding mirrors as a way of not having to confront ones own shameful ways of spending time…drinking, drugs, media consumption, and the aging process in general, slowly watching wrinkles form while regretting not spending your time in more productive ways.
Cutting the chords with Welcome Strawberry; photographed by Zachary Rodell.
"I'd Give Up Everything for You" is about choosing your vice, whether it's a drug or a person, over and over throughout your life.
Overall I'd say embracing constraints in a project can be as exciting as it is nerve wracking. It's not like you have a choice anyway...
Welcome Strawberry’s Scared to Look EP will be available November 10 via Cherub Dream Records.
Cover art for Welcome Strawberry’s Scared to Look courtesy of Nyle Rosenbaum.