We here at the Week in Pop offices this past week were introduced to Portland, Oregon's latest export the Neilson Family that brought us senses of warmth, nostalgia, care and sentimentality. Comprised of James Neilson, Annie Fifer, Amit Gordon and Vincent Paolo LiRocchi; the Neilson Family is proud to announce their debut album Double Life arriving October 11 via Jigsaw/Resurrection Records with the world premiere of the single and visual for the earnest and heartfelt "Water Ave". The Family's sound and style returns to the places that all but the glow of memories have forgotten. Incorporating a smart illustrious array of chord progressions that signal indications of the past, the shifts that brought the world that we knew to the world that we now know today; the quartet carries the banner of the places and faces of the people that they have kept in heart in sincere reminisces that ponder what it all meant then and what it all means in the current place and state of present times.

On "Water Ave", the Neilson Family takes us to the influential and historic Southeast Industrial District of PDX where reflections of yesteryears meet with the meditations on the modern era. Like the lyric that muses about how they used to make things here but now it's just where we have fun — the video mixes b/w home videos of carefree youthful pastimes, images from the industrious district's heyday with memory lane bike rides along the eponymous avenue in present day. The visual combines the anachronistic blend of eras with performances of the band captured creatively via the lens of a vehicle's backup camera that adds an economic DIY element of fuzzy and futuristic feels. Neilson Family blends a balladry sensibility hybrid that crosses strains off melancholia with a heart full of hope of what was (and what can be) that is a nod to Portland's own transformations over the years of industry shifts, redevelopment, sky-rocketing rents that pays homage to the days of banter with idling video store clerks to the present of frequenting bourgeois craft coffee houses and upscale pubs. "Water Ave" works like an short story omnibus that combines recalled anecdotes from childhood to the lamentations of growing pains that watch trends that trade the production and substance of constructive productivity for the superficial pursuits of one dimensional diet plan narcissism fueled by binging on the technocratic blood money of venture capital (in conjunction with its short term/nearsighted gains). The ode to PDX strikes at the very central core with the poignant passage of, For a city with so many bridges, for a people so enamored with fitness, for a formal education, elocution and financial station, how could I be this dumb, I got what I wanted, I got what I wanted, but it wasn't fun…

Portland’s own Neilson Family shared some thoughts on the new album Double Life along with the single “Water Ave”:

Formed by four Portland music scene veterans; Neilson Family is a jangle pop band that prizes subtle guitar work, close harmonies and wry lyrics. Their new album, Double Life, uses these elements to explore persona — the ones we use in intimate relationships, at work and about town. The lead single, "Water Avenue" is an ode to a street that was once a hub of industry, but whose main export is now hangovers.

Double Life will be available October 11 via Jigsaw Records/Resurrection Records.

Catch Neilson Family’s album release show in Portland October 11 at The Waypost,