Lewis Del Mar – August

Description

New York duo Lewis Del Mar return with their sophomore album August,via the Fader Label. This album marks the duo’s first new music since their 2016 self-titled debut. The Ceiling.

The duo, childhood friends Danny Miller and Max Harwood, recorded August over two years, beginning in a Rockaway Beach bungalow they converted into a studio. Recording started in the summer of 2017 as they grappled with an altered sense of normalcy after their first major tour and the release of their debut album. The emotional framework of August is rooted in the tension between the spiraling New York City summer that awaited them and the critical year-long period of reflection that followed. These disparate experiences resulted in a collection of songs that depict the way life fractures and comes back together in new forms. On August, the duo polishes and intensifies the sound introduced on their debut, employing Latin percussion indebted to Danny’s Nicaraguan heritage, and expanding upon the adventurous arrangements that first garnered them praise. The tension between the manic and reflective periods the band endured breathes new meaning into the songs.

The process of recording the album entailed personal and professional setbacks—mental health struggles and arguments about the band’s future tested them. Both members’ fathers suffered strokes during the making of the album, with Danny’s father tragically passing as the project neared completion. The very existence of August speaks to the immense power of perseverance and the duo’s unbreakable bond. Lewis Del Mar is Danny Miller and Max Harwood, who have been making music together since the age of nine when they both played trumpet in their fourth-grade band.