Neon Indian’s latest masterpiece, Vega Intl. Night School, is one hell of a trippy audible experience. One minute, frontman Alan Palomo is vocally zigzagging over rave synths; the next he bravely displays an eclectic maturing depth. On this particular exchange, he remains uninhibited about his creative process. “I gave myself a considerable amount of down time [between albums]. I really want to grow as a songwriter, but I still enjoy having fun with weird sounds. I like being surprised by synths. I don’t want to be bogged down by anyone else’s expectations or imaginary timelines.” This brief recess only exacerbated the discernment in Palomo as highlighted on Vega. He goes full on sultry for the intimate “Baby’s Eyes” yet hones it in with surprising gravity to soulfully execute a song like “Dear Skorpio Magazine.” He insists art imitates life.
“This record is somewhat autobiographical…there is a very distinct narrative to it,” Palomo explains. “But every record is a different story that has a different aesthetic or style to it. It’s hard to find the common thread between the current [album] and previous ones.” He also makes it a point to have tunnel vision regarding his craft. “One of my friends gave me a really good piece of advice a while ago: stop googling yourself and start being an artist. If you get caught up with everything else, you start to question who you are doing this for. When I was making Vega, I did it entirely for myself. It never occurred to me to make this for a 2015 audience.” He chuckles before quipping: “What does that even look like?” Of course, if he ever feels pigeonholed by the term chillwave to describe his music, he’ll never engage in that conversation again. “It’s not even an interesting question worth answering anymore. I’ve said it numerous times–I get it. It’s chillwave–I get it.”
Neon Indian with Computer Magic
January 28th
Paradise Rock Club
Boston
18+/8pm doors/9pm show
SOLD OUT