The alternative rock act known as New Pilgrims have released their new LP record, “World to See.” The album contains nine original New Pilgrims tracks for an approximate total listening time of half an hour. New Pilgrims’ “World to See” was produced by Vinny Constantine and proudly released on the Stereophonic Records independent music label. Genuine, intimate, remarkably written and performed with its heart on its sleeve, “World to See” by New Pilgrims is a surprise delight for fans of indie folk, alternative rock and pop music alike.
The mastermind behind New Pilgrims is singer-songwriter Bobby Gray from Nashville, TN. Gray cites as main artistic influences many of the mainstays of the alt-folk sound, including Brite Eyes, Dr. Dog and Tom Waits, as well as pop heroes like the Eels, Tricky and the Arcade Fire. Critics and fans have drawn comparisons between the music of New Pilgrims and the Decemberists, the Postal Service, and even Death Cab for Cutie.
One review described “World to See” by New Pilgrims as “straddling the appeal of alternative, indie-folk and pop music with tasteful amounts of ear candy, bittersweet hopefulness and good vibes.”
Regardless of sonic similarities, however, this is song-centric music, and these tracks stand as small, solitary works of art.
“For me songwriting is definitely not a guitar/vocal kind of thing,” writes New Pilgrims’ Bobby Gray. “I think there is a sense of honesty in a song that sometimes lends itself to a certain sound or instrument.”
For this reason Gray has become an autodidact and multi-instrumentalist to a startling degree. This lends his new record a textured depth in terms of tone which many bands can’t achieve with five core members, let alone just one. Gray explains that he doesn’t make songs work with flash and pizzazz. To him, rather, “it’s always really whatever the song needs. I may play guitar on one song and piano or organ on another, or pick up something more unusual that really captures the feel of the song.”
That the song is Gray’s unit of creativity also shows in his attention to lyrics. Each track seeps with personality like a photograph, a sonic snapshot of time in which something that has happened occurs again. This gives “World to See” a melancholy which is neither melodramatic nor overly sentimental.
Gray says of this, “I guess there is sadness in a lot of my music … in my life I’ve been through a lot of tough times. It’s bound to make its way into the music. I also think that’s just part of the honesty coming out. You know, even when I’m at my happiest, there are thoughts of the past and things that creep in there at times.”
The word ‘bittersweet’ is a common one to hear when discussing the themes of “World to See” with fans of Gray’s music.
“I think that everything in life is sort of bittersweet like when you actually stop and look at it,” writes Gray. “Time flies, and next thing you know it’s gone. Some of the most touching music that I love is sort of like that. Songwriting and recording is a way for me to process it all.”
The audiophile will agree before the opening track has finished that this “World to See” is definitely something to stop and look at, not least because it’s a gorgeous way for music fans to process it all, too.
“World to See” by New Pilgrims is available online worldwide. Get in early, fans of indie rock and folk, and be sure to catch them on your favorite streaming services such as Last.FM, Google Play, Spotify, Deezer Radio, iHeartRadio, and others.
-S. McCauley
Lead Press Release Writer
“World to See” by New Pilgrims –
http://www.amazon.com/World-See-New-Pilgrims/dp/B00Z07CYAM/
Websites –
www.newpilgrims.net (in development)
