THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Beach Weather are an American rock band who were originally based in the fictional resort town of Beach Weather, U.S.A., and populated by members Nick Santino, Sean Silverman and Reeve Powers. On their sophomore album Melt, however, they leave behind the fictional world of their debut Pineapple Sunrise and head for the desert. It’s a place where only the strong survive. And a place that plays a role in the start of the band, who actually met in Arizona.
The 12-song Melt captures the maturity, honesty, and storytelling since the band re-sparked their career in the last few years. Pineapple Sunrise quickly skyrocketed the band with the help of multi-platinum single Sex, Drugs, Etc., which peaked at No. 1 on alternative radio. Joined by other tracks like Unlovable, Trouble With This Bed and the title track, it helped the band expand their diehard cult following, known as the Beach Weather Rock N Roll Club.
Unlike Pineapple Sunrise, which was written during the pandemic while the members were thousands of miles away from one other, Melt allowed them all to connect on everything from their shared experiences on the road to the untraditional tracking itself. This record, like all their previous music, was produced and recorded by the band alongside producers Sean and Alex Silverman. The former officially joined the band in 2021. “Sean Silverman could be labeled as a new member, but he was making the tunes with us from the start in 2015. Really, that first EP (What A Drag) was just the Silverman brothers and Nick,” Reeve explains.
With all of the opportunities and studios available, the band chose to stick to what worked from the start. “With our first couple of EPs, we were literally recording in our friend’s shed and garage,” Silverman says. “This time around, we explored some traditional studio scenarios, but we fell back on what we’ve always done: recording in small spaces.” Accordingly, while on the road in early 2024, they continued mixing and tracked vocals in dressing rooms — and were inspired enough to record another song in a hotel room in Boise.
This process reinforced both Beach Weather’s preferred recording process — and their instinctual approach. “We’re throwing a bunch of different colors on the canvas at the same time,” Santino says. “Like, if a song calls for a certain guitar part in that moment, we’ll set up an amp and record a part because we know we need to get that idea down. That’s why it works in the back of a tour bus and why it works in the dressing room.”
Melt reflects this authentic vibe. Songs encompass breezy alt-pop (Deadbeat Blues, a duet with the vocalist Bel), effervescent pop-rock with a slinky R&B groove, and laid-back, synth-sparkled pop (the moody title track). Hardcore Romance, one of the first songs Beach Weather wrote for Melt, is also one of their heaviest tunes to date. The band grafts pop melodies and hooks to fuzzed-out guitars, propulsive drums and distorted-coated vocals.
Unsurprisingly, guitarist Sean Silverman says Hardcore Romance was inspired by Beach Weather‘s packed 2023 schedule, which included sets at music festivals like BottleRock Napa Valley, Hangout Music Festival and Shaky Knees, and toured with the likes of The Beaches and lovelytheband. “We’ve always tapped into this heavier rock sound when we were like rehearsing, but it never translates on to a record,” Silverman says. “And I felt like this was the first time we said, ‘Oh, can we do this song and still feel like us?’ It felt dangerous for us to try it that way — and new and exciting.”
As these sessions progressed, Silverman realized that the music they were writing was a noticeable departure from their past releases. “When we were doing Pineapple Sunrise, there was this sense of escapism in what we were doing,” he says. “We were trying to make things feel bubbly and more whimsical in the production, because that’s how we felt at the time. With some of the newer stuff, conceptually, it’s a bit of a departure. Darker is too heavy of a term. But there were maybe melancholy musical elements, and a little more weight to the time that we were making it in.”
Santino chalks this evolution up to band members being in different (and more settled) places in their personal lives. “We’re not writing heartbreak songs like we used to when we were younger,” he says. “But what we always lean into — and maybe it says a lot about us — is that our songs are rooted in self-reflection. Sometimes we’re self-deprecating; sometimes our songs tell people it’s okay to feel a certain way. We try to write honest, real things that we know that everybody goes through. If anything, this record speaks more to that approach than anything we’ve done before, in the most beautiful way.”
The single High in Low Places embodies this evolution. The last song Beach Weather wrote for the record, the tune originally sounded like a heavier, shoegaze-influenced song, but evolved into a moodier tune with a sinewy groove, sighing vocal harmonies, and a punchy chorus. “I played it for somebody in another band, and he said, ‘It sounds like Armageddon disco music,’ and we were like, ‘That’s it. That’s perfect,'” Santino says.
Lyrics-wise, High In Low Places speaks to the universal idea of striving for emotional equilibrium despite long odds and challenging times. “It felt true to what we’ve gone through, not only with this band, but in our personal lives, of trying to find the positive while also going through this grind of being musicians and creatives,” Silverman says. “Trying to find the silver lining felt powerful for our band and our story. And it feels like an anchor for the record, because it does feel like it’s a little more weighty, in a good way.”
Santino, Powers, and Silverman are excited to release Melt and share this next chapter of their story. “We’ve always put our fans and listeners first,” Santino says. “We try to make our records feel like something that they can attach themselves to, like they’re a part of something.” Adds Powers: “We want the listener to know who we are inside just by listening to this new record. We really put all of ourselves into this one.”
