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Now It’s Overhead, the beloved project of Athens, GA-based musician/producer/engineer/visual artist Andy LeMaster, announces in the beginning, a five-song digital EP featuring the band’s first new music since 2006: “eleven-seven-thirty-five,” written around the time of the 2001 self-titled album, and “sigh let go,” composed specifically for the EP. It also includes songs “the garden house” (originally released as part of a fundraising campaign for Brian Eno’s EarthPercent Foundation), “Dark Cycle” (previously found on the vinyl version of the Saddle Creek 50 sampler), and “The Book of Love,” a cover of The Magnetic Fields’ from Now It’s Overhead’s 2004 single “Wait In A Line.”
Of “eleven-seven-thirty-five,” LeMaster explains: “‘eleven-seven-thirty-five’ was written and recorded in the same time period as the songs that became the first now it’s overhead album. it was an earlier song among that bunch. it almost made the record and i’m nearly certain we played it live at the first few now it’s overhead shows. i rediscovered it recently while transferring some old reels of tape and i had forgotten how fully formed it is as a song and a recording.
hearing it now, the lyrics encapsulate the charged curiosity of that time period; the sense of possibility and wonder; the excitement of uncertainty. there’s a thread of longing in the lyrics to find love and connection while still early on my journey of self-discovery as a queer person. the imagery of being on the road was directly informed by a lot of bright eyes van tours around that time.
for the recording, clay played the drums and i did the rest. i was particularly pleased with how the oddly transitioning lush but trippy bridge turned out. this was before we had pro tools, so i remember the pain and delight of manually syncing up the tape machine to the ensoniq sampler to blend, bend, and manipulate the various vocal samples.
coming across it recently, i'm surprised i left it off of the first record, and i'm stoked to release it now.”
Now It’s Overhead emerged in the early 2000s alongside the era-defining Saddle Creek scene, and its debut album was the first released by the label from a non-Nebraska band. Always essentially a solo project for LeMaster, its recordings frequently featured fellow Athenites Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor (of Azure Ray), while Fall Back Open also had guest vocals from Michael Stipe and Conor Oberst (both of whom LeMaster still collaborates with to this day). Now It’s Overhead has drawn press attention from outlets including ELLE, Interview, MAGNET, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Teen Vogue, Alternative Press, and more, and these long-awaited editions are essential for casual listeners and avid collectors alike.
