Every week, Milwaukee Music Premiere connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, head over to our Music Submission page to learn how.
The idea behind releasing an album single is to give people a sneak preview of what they’ll hear when the whole project comes out. Milwaukee indie rockers Fuzzysurf smashed a big hole in that approach when they decided on their upcoming album’s direction, which is … all of them?
On the appropriately titled Chameleons, the band opted for surf and tropical beats, as well as freak folk and psychedelic undertones. And also indie rock and freak folk. And synth. And chamber pop and jazz.
And, for good measure on the song premiering here, hip-hop beats.
Yes, “Don’t Go Overboard” has that as its percussive foundation, but you’ll likely notice the surf-ier aspects after punching the “Listen” button above. For me, the Hawaiian-style lap steel was the standout on a track that feels like it could’ve been penned while stretched out with umbrella drink in hand.
“Visually, in my head, I saw this person out on a voyage, setting out for something new, leaving the past behind, etc.,” Fuzzysurf guitarist/vocalist Sean Lehner shared. “So I wrote these words to create images of the water and this journey, but I also knew I wanted to create this feeling of actually being the passenger on the boat and experiencing this voyage for the listener musically.”
As a passenger, you’re not privy to what set the person at the song’s center on this trip, but the lyrics suggest a fractured relationship of some type. Romantic? Platonic? Business partners? If I had to guess, it’s probably the first one, but consider it a Rorschach test for you to interpret based on whatever’s happening in your life currently:
Voyages can lead
To storms and rough seas
That capsize all your dreams
Drifting endlessly
Until eventually
Currents take you to a brand new shore
Listen to “Don’t Go Overboard” here and throughout today on 88Nine (6:30 and 10:30 a.m.; 2:30, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m.), as well as on Chameleon when it comes out this fall.
