Amanda Leethal
Baked Debut Isabella Mingione Led “Stay” with SPIN
Farnham Out February 24th via Exploding In Sound Records
Announce Album Listening Party + Release Show
Baked are back, and with new single “Stay,” the Brooklyn quintet are sounding like you’ve never heard them before with the band’s own Isabella Mingione (keys) taking over on lead vocals. Baked have always been an extremely eclectic rock band but with the addition of Isabella’s songs on Farnham (not to mention Ovlov/Stove’s Steve Hartlett and Bueno’s AJ Pantaleo joining the band), there’s a whole new degree of texture to their dynamic slacker punk meets classic rock sound. “Stay” is a ballad about unwanted change, full of the band’s dusty country grooves, layered guitars, and distorted soul, it’s a song that builds on delicate nuance as Isabella leads you through an upended world.
SPIN shared the premiere claiming “Stay” will “appeal to fans of Crazy Horse-era Neil Young, with its high, mournful singing, country-ish clean guitar interplay, and a pair of fuzzed-out climaxes that bring to mind “Cowgirl in the Sand” or “Cinnamon Girl.””
Speaking about the song, Isabella shared:
“’Stay’ is about feeling left behind by the most important aspects of your life and not wanting to lose that stability. It’s feeling reluctant to change and everything that inevitably comes with it. It’s when you are forced to move forward in a direction that you didn’t want or expect.”
Baked have announced both an album listening party (February 11th) and album release show (February 24th) in addition to an official slot at this year’s SXSW. All details can be found below.
UPCOMING SHOWS AND EVENTS:
02/01 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right w/ Soft Fangs, Poppies & Calvin Lecompte
02/11 – Brooklyn, NY @ Matt Torrey’s Pub (Album Listening Party) (details)
02/24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium w/ Grass Is Green, Honduras & Hound (tickets)
ABOUT BAKED:
It would be safe to call Baked veterans of Brooklyn’s DIY scene. They’ve ran their own show space (Big Snow), they’ve worked for years at Shea Stadium, and they’ve spent time touring and playing in bands like Titus Andronicus, Lost Boy ?, Bueno, Leapling and more. Their focus however… remains forever Baked. It’s been a lengthy two and a half years since their full length debut but the perennially foggy quintet has returned with a new line-up and a new record, Farnham. The wait is over and results are “lit” in every sense. RJ Gordon (vocals/guitar), Isabella Mingione (vocals/keys), and Jeremy Aquilino (bass) are joined by Steve Hartlett (guitar) and AJ Pantaleo (drums), rounding out the band while adding their own unique sonic input. Baked like to play loud yet calm, moseying their way into swarming riffs because not everything needs to be rushed. Fried and blustery, Baked play it cool as the peel through outlaw country ballads, soul inspired pop, and jittery punk, blending genres with the greatest of ease and good senses. The bar has been raised, Baked are ready to rip. Heavier, sultrier, more dynamic, and out right riskier, nothing is off limits on Farnham and Baked sound more alive than ever.
Farnham, due out February 24th via Exploding In Sound Records, is a record that is very much indebted to changes. Changes that come from loss and those that come from living life. It’s an album dedicated to a lost friend (Ken Farnham, the record’s namesake) but it’s also an album of a band that has experienced it’s own changes in members since their debut. It’s also the first album they’ve released since Baked’s lead songwriter RJ Gordon joined Titus Andronicus… which is all to say, change weighs heavy. Baked remain forever true to their own vision but they’re adapting and evolving as a collective, opting to recline a little deeper, push a little further, and create the best version of themselves they can muster up. Sure the band still like to get… well, baked… but their sophomore album is mature and fully realized, a reflective record that comes from the band’s heart. Speaking about the album’s title and themes in a recent interview, Gordon (vocals/guitar) shared:
“Farnham is the last name of a friend of mine (Ken) who passed away some years back. We were close friends and roomates back when we were freshman and sophomores in college at SUNY Purchase. Back in 2008/2009 he was diagnosed with brain cancer at a young age. We would go to visit him in his hometown (Tonawanda, NY) and try to keep up as much as possible. He was a talented artist and made a print 8 or 9 years ago that became the two dead mice on the cover of the album. Also the droopy monster face on the liner notes. He was a very very talented artist and I wanted to pay homage to his work and his name with the record. A lot of the record has songs that I wrote originally during and after that tough time and it felt right to pay a little tribute to him.”
BAKED
Farnham
February 24th
Exploding In Sound Records
Pre-Order
1. A.A.
2. Wolf
3. Amy Rots
4. Stay
5. Stuck At Iron Mountain
6. Them
7. Midnight Junkie
8. Danelectroladyland
9. “You Know San Francisco, Don’t You?”
10. I Win
11. Two-Thousandths
12. Tolex
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