“like a day that we will never forget because it is perfect.” – Indie Criollo
FOR RELEASE AUGUST 30, 2021
OMAHA (August 9, 2021) – Contradictions bloom like jacarandas in Sutter Zachman’s “We Live in California,” a jaunty lament about a fickle muse, and a tongue-in-cheek ode to the sun-splashed state where the singer-songwriter spent his formative years. The single due out August 30 is off the album, End of the Arcade, produced by Grammy-winning engineer Austen Jux-Chandler (Adele, Wolf Alice, Vance Joy).
Musically, the song is a breezy paean to ‘70s pop, buoyed by a lilting horn section and a Rhodes that twinkles like sunbeams glistening on the ocean. Zachman’s gentle, golden voice is right at home, as he croons with beachy playfulness about his lover’s mood swings. “Last night you were possessed by the devil and you wouldn’t turn off the shower,” he sings.
Zachman’s narrator confesses his relationship’s puzzling turbulence with cheeky self-awareness, set against a deceptively idyllic backdrop where “the palms would sway” even while the skies are aflame.
“I knew that little girl, she would sing to the streetlights on a winter’s day,” he reminisces. “Now we live in California, where the beaches are cold and gray.” Love and paradise, it turns out, are two of a kind; each has its letdowns. And yet the song is resoundingly optimistic. Despite his frustrations, the narrator assures his lover that sunnier days will return, as they always do. “I’ve seen you satisfied, just wait til September, I know we’ll be okay.”
On October 8, Zachman will release End of the Arcade. The lush record features bassist Eliana Athayde (Weyes Blood), drummer Kyle Crane (Kurt Vile, Neko Case) and guitarist Connor Sullivan (Liz Phair). Zachman recorded the album mostly in Los Angeles, but once the pandemic hit, he enlisted a few additional musicians to add finishing touches from across the globe – including a tiny London brass section that recorded in their closet.
On End of the Arcade, Zachman gave himself the freedom to cull from a medley of influences, from ’80s synth-pop to Brazilian folk. The process reinforced his feeling that making music is “a form of escapism.” Yet his lyrics reveal an unmistakable yearning. “I have a real appetite for answering questions that I don’t have answers to,” he explains with a laugh. Zachman’s search for answers manifests into a musical journey filled with enchanting surprises.
End of the Arcade Track Listing
- Chinese New Year
- Beautiful Language
- Tell Any Lies
- We Live in California
- Matters in the Dark
- The Restaurant
- Hotel Lobby, San Diego
- Swedish Girl
- Cycles
- On and On
- Emerald Eyes
About Sutter Zachman
At the brink of just twenty years old Zachman signed a big publishing deal in 2008 with Chrysalis. Unable to find immediate success as a songwriter, Zachman moved to the Midwest to attend college and wouldn’t return to Los Angeles until 2013 when he formed the band La Route, consisting of Cameron Meshell (Forever Like Red) and Angela Russell. The trio’s regularly performed street shows on Abbot Kinney Boulevard eventually caught the attention of a local producer who invited them to record at his studio – resulting in Zachman’s debut EP, Repeat Offender. The single off the EP, “Back to Sleep,” received international airplay on BBC and Rte 1 Radio and earned him an in-studio performance at Yahoo Music. As Zachman was wrapping up the production of his fourth EP, Up All Night, an auspicious dinner set up by his wife’s co-worker led to Zachman meeting Grammy-winning engineer Austen Jux-Chandler (Adele, Wolf Alice, Vance Joy) who produced the upcoming album, End of the Arcade. Zachman will support the album release with a fall tour.
