Name: Waxing Romantic
Brand: Travis Bretzer

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

CD 311672

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

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Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2015-02-24

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Redeye

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

184923116724

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Travis Bretzer

Genre US

Rock-Pop

Label US

Mexican Summer

Hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, 24-year-old Bretzer has an appropriately singular, off-beat take on guitar pop. An adroit songwriter and true troubadour, Travis sidesteps easy pigeonholing. On his debut EP Making Love (Mexican Summer, 2013) he managed to touch on the new-pop of Orange Juice, the playful idiosyncrasies of Prefab Sprout, with a freewheeling sensibility present in much of the Stiff Records catalog. Above all, Making Love displayed some trulysophisticated songwriting that belied its occasionally haphazard bedroom production and casual delivery. On Waxing Romantic, Travis has stepped up the production in a big way, graduating from the bedroom to a full studio environment. Recorded at Gary's Electric in Brooklyn and produced by Jorge Elbrecht (of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and Lansing-Dreiden fame) the new environment has allowed for Travis' songs to be taken to new, fully-realized heights. The album also features a solid crew of players, including members of Haunted Graffiti, James Richardson of MGMT and Regal Degal's Josh da Costa, who was key in shaping drum arrangements. The move to the studio also feels very in keeping with the sonic inspiration Travis had for the album, which came in part from memories of rifling through his parents' soft-rock LPs: think Gerry Rafferty, Al Stewart, Christopher Cross, The Eagles. With their warm drums and smooth, clean studio sound informing Travis' sonic palette, it makes sense that Gary's Electric became the venue for the album recording. As the title indicates, Waxing Romantic is thematically concerned with love. For Travis, the album reads like a storybook of the first couple of years of his current relationship, with each song acting like a totem for different events and moments. For this reason, the album is very personal - it navigates the giddy and elated feelings of falling in love, and the process of looking back and reflecting on it. In keeping with the album's '70s pop mode, the lyrics are kept simple and sweet, but never cloying. Lead single "Promises" is built around a breezy, cascading guitar riff and oozes a casual temperament. Warm slide guitars and fuzzy power-pop riffs color the lofty melodies of "Lonely Heart". Elsewhere, "Idle By" recalls the glistening guitar lines of Felt, and "Lady Red" shows Travis doing his best scrubbed up, sophisticated pop song.

Waxing Romantic

Music US