DETAILS
TRACKS
Side A
- Crawling Off Your Pages
- Swinging In The Circus
- That's Not Real At All (B. Midweek Pg. 207)
- Only So Much
- They Said So
- Runaway, Yeah
Side B
- Colossal Waste of Light
- The Snowfire Band
- Everything That I See You See Better (22)
- Misuse
- Pink Chair
- Lyin' In Your Tomb
- I Can't Be Told
RELEASE DATE
3/10/2023
• NOW AVAILABLE ON * * PURPLE LIGHTNING * * VINYL.
• Featuring new member VICTOR KRUMMENACHER of CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN & MONKS OF DOOM
• Produced by PETER BUCK of R.E.M.
• CLICK FOR ADDITIONAL INTERNATIONAL PURCHASE OPTIONS
Eyelids’ new album, A Colossal Waste of Light, does an excellent job of framing the quintet as one of today’s most compelling purveyors of lopsided guitar pop workouts and earworm-laden vocal melodies. It also proves that great guitar pop can still evoke favorites from a glorious past - the penetrating moodiness of XTC’s Black Sea, or R.E.M.’s Fables of the Reconstruction, comes to mind - while refusing to waste time on idle nostalgia.
On their 4th full-length album (but 17th vinyl offering if you include previous 7”s and EPs) the Portland, OR band also rediscover the beauty of firsts. A Colossal Waste of Light marks the first time the band wrote songs remotely (“it ended up being fun & weird to send out a very simple version of a song and see who came back first with another part for it”, John Moen looks back), their first reunion at the Destination: Universe studio post-isolation, and their first batch of melodious new tunes since The Accidental Falls, the band’s 2020 project with poet, lyricist and Tim Buckley collaborator Larry Beckett (an extra-ordinary pairing that allowed Eyelids’ two frontmen/tunesmiths, Chris Slusarenko and John Moen, to find a new, multilayered appreciation for the art of songcraft).
Most importantly, A Colossal Waste of Light is the first Eyelids album to feature new bass player Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven, Monks of Doom). Eyelids had shared bills with Krummenacher a few times before he moved to Portland, but once he arrived he quickly found himself in a new town where everything was suddenly locked down. Luckily enough, there were eventual get-togethers in Slusarenko’s backyard and, finally one day, a most coveted question: “do you want me to play bass for your band?”. The artistry he brings to A Colossal Waste of Light is seasoned and fresh in equal measure. Alongside Jonathan Drews’ expressive yet mysteriously ethereal guitar playing and Paulie Pulvirenti’s imaginative and powerful drumming, the finished LP is the perfect summation of Eyelids’ new and old ways of collaborating together.
As for the record’s title, Slusarenko notes that it conjures “the parallel lines of dearly holding onto some sort of version of hope, all the while knowing everything's going to shit.” With all the feel of a lost late 70s classic, A Colossal Waste Of Light sounds both majestic and playfully open to multifaceted meanings and moods. It’s haunted and vibrant all at once, while putting some kicks back towards melancholy. Every track feels like its own journey and having songs from two songwriters at the top of their game makes for a most dynamic, immersive narrative as their songs follow one another throughout. As a whole, it’s thrilling, moving, mercurial, absorbing, soothing, and unmistakably Eyelids.
EXPLORE

Federale
Reverb & Seduction

The Third Sex
The Third Sex - Greatest Hits

The Third Sex
The Third Sex - Back To Go

Glitterfox
Live at Mississippi Studios

Califone
The Villagers Companion

The Delines
Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom

SticklerPhonics
Technicolor Ghost Parade

Old Unconscious
The Circular Ruins

Martha Scanlan & Jon Neufeld
Save It For Later

Eyelids
No Jigsaw

The Hoom
On Gabadon

Boxhead Ensemble
Ancient Music

Marisa Anderson & Tara Jane O'Neil
For All We Know

Blue Cranes
My Only Secret

Johanna Samuels
Bystander

Califone
villagers

Jenny Conlee
Tides: Pieces For Accordion And Piano

The Hackles
What a beautiful thing I have made

The Hackles
Song For The Fool

The Delines
The Lost Duets

Jon Brion
Meaningless

Martha Scanlan & Jon Neufeld
Last Stars First Light

No. 2
First Love

José Medeles
Railroad Cadences & Melancholic Anthems

Dave Depper
Moon Safari

Federale
Our Side Of Their Story

Adam Selzer
Slow Decay

The Delines
The Sea Drift

Martha Scanlan & Jon Neufeld
Desert Rebel + Turning The Corner

Motrik
MØØN: The Cosmic Electrics of MØTRIK

Eyelids
Eyelids Dubble Live!

Chris Funk
Songs For Dog Fitness

Chainsaw Records
Chainsaw Records Bundle

Longstocking
Singles & Demos: 1994-1998

Infinite X's
Infinite X's

Longstocking
Once Upon A Time Called Now

Dave Depper
Europa

The Hackles
Making Baby Keys In The Darkness + Houses

Califone
Needle In The Hay + Crazy As A Loon

Jeff London
Trouble Trust

Motrik
Artificial Head

Slanted Floors
Pink Heaven

Chris Funk
The Painted Porch

No. 2
You Might Be Right

Marisa Anderson & Tara Jane O'Neil
You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

Eyelids
The Accidental Falls

John Cameron Mitchell & Eyelids
Turning Time Around EP

Califone
Echo Mine
