We’re more than psyched to announce a new addition to our roster with the release of Ann Pragg‘s upcoming LP Bitter Fruit. Ann Pragg is the alter ego of Gainesville, Florida’s Matt Radick (Holopaw, Blood River). We’ve had our eyes on Matt Radick since his days playing house parties as Blood River in Gainesville. His lo fi, homemade recordings of carefully crafted, quietly crushing songs stuck with us through the years, and every time we were lucky enough to catch him live we were floored.
Although he’s kept busy with Holopaw’s (Subpop, Misrah records) studio and touring schedule, we were finally able to track him down. We’ve spent the last year recording, mixing and mastering this collection of songs, and we couldn’t be happier to be able to share the fruits of those labors with you all now.
Recorded on a cassette 8 track, this album builds upon the intimacy and warmth found on his early recordings and gives them new life, layering hushed vocal harmonies, swells of fuzz guitar, and crystalline synths. Lyrically cryptic and with a vocabulary all their own, Radick’s songs drift through dark territory, often wrapped and packaged as jangly pop. Take a listen to a few of his early, unreleased demos below. None of these songs were re-recorded for the upcoming album, but it’ll give you a little taste of what’s in store. Stay tuned for the forthcoming single.