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.
A lot is made of Milwaukee neighborhoods and the community-within-a-community vibes they foster. Stereotypically, we think of that manifesting as borrowing a cup of sugar or taking in your mail while you’re on vacation. But, in very rare instances, you end up forming a band and recording a full-length album.
That less-common scenario played out for Bay View “down-the-street neighbors” Tad Jameyfield and John Doyle, whose affinity for experimental pop became the common ground on which they built their Creature Weather project. With debut LP Moonlight Regions in the pipeline, we’re helping them premiere one of its tracks — the sunny-sounding but darkly messaged “Unfold.”
The brightness of the song almost completely obscures the bleak nature of its lyrics, with a sonic thumbprint immediately recognizable as throwback psych pop. Jameyfield’s affection for ’60s bands like The Zombies and The Buckinghams is all over “Unfold” from its first moments. The weathered piano, echoey vocals and harmonies set a tone that balances the difficult circumstances the song sprung from.
“‘Unfold’ is a song about life and loss during some tough times with my family. I wanted to say to myself, my wife and my family — past and present — that no matter what happens, they are the most important thing to me, that their love is enough,” said Jameyfield, who poured those feelings onto the page in a manner that shows both sides of the coin:
So, say it isn’t so
We had to let one go
We had to see the other side
Of another life we do not know
It didn’t grow
You say you’re stuck like glue
Boiled down into
The cracks you fell
Just take a helping hand
Remember what I said is true
It’s a polished and promising single from a relative newcomer to Milwaukee’s music scene, and suggests interesting things to come when the full album drops. For now, you can listen to “Unfold” on demand using the player on this page and catch it on 88Nine five times today (6:30 and 10:30 a.m; 2:30, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m.).
