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Under the Rug – “Raindrops”
When you’ve been working together as long as Los Angeles indie-rock/soul-pop trio Under the Rug, you start to seek new avenues of inspiration. After years of working side by side as collaborators in Under the Rug and engineers at their brick & mortar recording studio in LA, vocalist Casey Dayan, guitarist Sean Campbell, and drummer Brendan McQueeney decided to ditch their stable surroundings, pack up a bare-bones mobile studio, and embark on a recording project in hostels & Airbnb’s around the United States. “There’s always some magic in going somewhere unfamiliar,” says McQueeney. “It brings something new out of you. Being in a different place, I think, just puts you in a different headspace, creatively and musically.”
Recorded over a 72 hour period in a small artist community made up of paper-and-concrete huts outside Marathon, Texas, Under the Rug’s newest single “Raindrops” forgoes the ornate arrangements and instrumentation of Under the Rug’s 2019 EP, Too Far Away, in favor of a stripped-down orchestration reflective of the surroundings in which it was written and recorded. Atop lightly fluttering mandolin, moody keys and a punchy, half-time rhythm section, Dayan’s passionate vocals touch on grief, false hope, self-reflection and forgotten communities. Meanwhile, Campbell, McQueeney, and guest vocalist/keyboard player Leah Judge’s backing vocals punctuate Dayan’s poetry, adding extra weight to his lines and giving “Raindrops” a soulful lilt that spins their indie/alt-rock sound into something all its own.
In the spirit of collaboration with the community in which Under the Rug were guesting, “Raindrops” also features vocal contributions from one of the property’s owners, Ingrid, an eclectic Slovakian singer known throughout the commune as “The Goat Queen” for the rousing effect her vocals have on the nearby livestock. Another longtime resident of the commune, George Zupp, contributed artwork for the single, an eerie, almost-impressionist painting of a landfill marked by trash cans brimming with the heads of wild animals. “Driving into Marathon felt really unfamiliar, it was a bit of a culture shock,” says Dayan. “But the people we met there were so warm and welcoming and creative in ways that I think get overlooked by a lot of folks from big urban areas.”
By self-producing “Raindrops,” the core trio was able to control the level of experimentation and orchestration that went into the single, free of outside influence. By taking a more minimalist approach than some of their older music, with “Raindrops,” Under the Rug have been able to create something much more immediate and impactful than ever before. “Under the Rug has always focused on adding new sounds, but now we’re in the era of the red pen,” says Campbell. “We’re trying to have fewer elements involved and let each part speak louder. Things are a little less overcooked, and focusing on that approach lately has been exciting.”
Since forming over a decade ago, Under the Rug have cut their teeth as songwriters and engineers, writing and recording dozens of projects, amassing a dedicated fanbase, garnering praise from independent tastemaker blogs including Mystic Sons, Two Story Melody, Comeherefloyd, and more, and even getting a co-sign from The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle. Now, after years of growth and experience, Under the Rug are recommitted to their future as songwriters and artists, already moving forward with plans for a new string of singles and a full-length LP on the way. “After ten years, I think it would be weird if you didn’t at least think about what your life would be like doing something else,” says Dayan. “After a while, though, we realized, you either accept what this life is or you bail on it and go get a sales job or something. As for us, it looks like we’re going to be doing this forever. We can’t do anything else.”
