Alan Zreczny and bluefront confront emotional Aftershocks with their newest single and lyric video — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The title track from the Chicago outfit’s 2019 sophomore album, the song “was written after I watched a news report about an earthquake and its aftershocks,” Zreczny lays plainly. “It started a process of thinking about the correlation to emotional aftershocks, like the flash of a memory where the whole thing would sort of hit again.
“The song is my small way to address my own aftershocks and being ‘ready’ to handle them when they come,” he continues. “I realized that the aftershocks could actually feel worse than the shock or the event itself. In essence, I had already made it past the initial blow but now, on top of reliving that, I’m upset with myself because I’m thinking about it again, and it’s affecting me in the same way. It felt like it was time to stop, so the first part of the song is about letting go and leaning into something unseen that may not necessarily make sense as a way to make it through. When the big change in the music happens, it’s sort of the challenge: you know the aftershocks are coming, so what are you going to do about it?”
One seven narrative poems set to spirited melodies that define the album, Aftershocks’ shimmering melodies and intricate instrumentation are deftly demonstrated by Zreczny and bandmates Jason Steele, Nick Kabat and Mark Burns. “I love how the music became more textured as we kept playing it,” Zreczny offers. “And I absolutely love the brushes added during recording; they sort of glue all those textures together.”
Aftershocks was recorded at Electrical Audio by Scott Steinman, mixed at GardenView Sound Studio by Scott Steinman for Studiomedia Recording, and mastered by Matthew Barnhart at Chicago Mastering Services; it follows Zreczny’s debut The Arbor Sessions. Zreczny and bluefront have performed at Uncommon Ground, The Elbo Room, The Gallery Cabaret, The Red Line Tap, Old Town Art Fair, Subterranean, The House Cafe, and The Cubby Bear, among others, and appeared on WGN Radio and the Chicago Acoustic Underground podcast.
Watch It’s Not Over Yet above, listen to Aftershocks below, and keep up with bluefront via their website and Facebook.
