Film School to release new album

Film School is thrilled to announce that Fission will now be released on Hi-Speed Soul records. The new release date will be August 31st. Hi-Speed Soul is a Southern California-based label that is home to Adam Franklin, Nada Surf, Swervedriver, and others.

Los Angeles' Film School released Hideout in late 2007 and then hit the road for most of 2008. The band toured North America three times, was invited by Swervedriver to open their 2008 reunion tour, played sold out shows across Britain with Mercury Prize nominees British Sea Power, and performed in a healthy schedule of US summer festivals. After taking the first months of 2009 off to regroup, Film School was back in the rehearsal studio beginning work on their next album when they got news their label Beggars Banquet was being dissolved into the Beggars Group and that the band/label relationship was ending.

Changes in circumstance can lead to unexpected results. But if there's one thing that's consistent about Film School, it is that they are a band that survives and adapts to change. A lot can happen to a band over a decade—in the course of nine years, the band has had all their gear stolen, split up (after which, Bertens, with the help of keyboardist Jason Ruck, went on to write the now critically-acclaimed album Hideout), and have seen their 5-year label relationship come to an end.

"It's like any breakup—you either bury your head in the sand or you use that energy to create something" singer Greg Bertens says. "This band's creative fuel always seems to come from a mix of the freeing energy you get from separation and the challenge to prove you're still worthy."

Fission is an album of clarity, energy, and change. One of the most notable differences on this album is the more prominent vocal presence of bassist Lorelei Plotczyk. From the first notes on the opening track, "Heart Full Of Pentagons," you can hear that it is going to be a collaborative effort.

"There were tons of ideas and melodies floating around the rehearsal room, including some amazing full songs being brought in. I could tell this was going to be a totally different kind of album for Film School and I wanted to get out of the way and let it happen," says Bertens.

The result is a dynamic mix of songwriting by Bertens, Plotczyk and Ruck with help from guitarist Dave Dupuis and drummer James Smith.

“When I’m Yours,” is a tautly composed dancefloor burner that fires off brisk beats and electropop keyboard lines only to open up halfway into the song to a lush guitar wash and soaring vocal melody. That sonic revelation—a sort of frenetic tension building to cathartic release—is a fitting introduction to an album that takes the Film School sound in new directions that will no doubt surprise some listeners. Fission delivers the layers of reverbed guitars, swirling keyboards, and strong rhythm section that the band is known for, but adds more harmonies, danceable beats, and pop sensibilities, making it Film School’s most accessible album to date.

In other tracks, listeners will hear echoes of Lush and Yo La Tengo, but in a modern way.

“Waited” is a classic indie rock duet, with fuzzy guitars a counterpoint to the song’s bittersweet male-female vocals. "Sunny Day", with its jangly rhythm, dreamy singing, tambourine accents, and heavily distorted guitar lines, is equal parts Paisley Underground and early ’90s Britpop. “Distant Life” is a punchy nugget of a pop song, while “Bones” showcases a sweetly melancholic chorus laced with strings and piano.

Mixed and mastered by Dan Long (The Jealous Girlfriends, Ferraby Lionheart) and produced by Bertens, Fission is the next evolution in the sound of a band that only seems to get better with time .

Tracklisting
1- Heart Full Of Pentagons
2- When I'm Yours
3- Time To Listen
4- Waited
5- Meet Around 10
6- Direct
7- Still Might
8- Distant Life
9- Sunny Day
10- Bones
11- Nothing's Mine
12- Find You Out

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