FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 27, 2021
OMAHA (September 15, 2021) – In the opening track from Sutter Zachman’s End of the Arcade, sparse keyboards and sprays of synth give way to a pulsing, spacious beat that would have been right at home in the early, halcyon days of MTV. “This Chinese new year, this waning moon,” Zachman sings in a kind of trance, as if walking through a dream. “These crimes of passion come to my room.” The single, Chinese New Year” due out September 27 is off the album, End of the Arcade, produced by Grammy-winning engineer Austen Jux-Chandler (Adele, Wolf Alice, Vance Joy).
It’s cinematic pop that owes some of its luster to New Wave favs like Duran Duran and Tears for Fears, but Zachman’s chops as a singer-songwriter plant “Chinese New Year” in a category all its own. In just over two-and-a-half minutes, the tune winds its way through a haunting psychic landscape of “old lovers passing words in idle and strain,” as morning “tears at the window.” Punctuated by zig-zaggy zither runs and colored by a kaleidoscopic soundscape care of producer Austen Jux-Chandler (Adele, Ed Sheeran), “Chinese New Year” invites you to live inside your dreams for a little while, even if “everybody knows that you’re afraid.”
The song is by far the most adventurous experiment yet for Zachman, a former folkie who released a handful of Americana-flavored EPs before debuting his first full-length, End of the Arcade, this year.
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.
