Iration is celebrating a great 2018 with the May 18th release of their new self-titled record. At 17 songs, its a big album with a big sound and one song that plays outside the rest of the album is the dance, disco sounding track, “Last To Know.” We caught up with the band to discuss the song and album.
It had been 3 years between records for Iration who, before their self-titled album, released Hotting Up in 2015. That record sat at just 9 total tracks featuring a new member in guitarist/vocalist Micah Brown. In the 3 years that followed Hotting Up, a new record couldn’t come soon enough and when it landed in May, it featured Slightly Stoopid, J Boog, and Tyrone’s Jacket.
[Related: Interview – Iration]
17 songs, by today’s standards, is a lot of music to put on an album. Members become attached to songs, attachment makes it difficult to trim a record down to 10 or 12 songs when you’ve written and recorded more than double that.
“We had a lot of music,” Micah proclaims. “We made a lot of rhythms and beats that we felt were pretty good. Even at 17 songs, we had to cut 3 or 4. We planned on doing 20 songs and then cutting it down to 11 or 12. In my mind, 12 was the number. We ended up recording 20 songs and going with 17 for the record. We just felt like they were strong enough. Cutting any of this would be really tough.”
The album already has fan favorites with “Press Play,” “2GÜD2BTRÜ,” and “Already Gold;” among others. Heavy bass driven rhythms and melodic hooks around a lovable reggae-rock sound with a pop-island flare sums up much of the new record, except for maybe one song. Listen totrack 10, “Last To Know.” It’s like a modern day, bell-bottom, disco-dance jam that you could boogie out to at the roller-rink–This is not something we’re use to hearing from Iration.
“That was a song that (producer) King David and I did. When we wrote it, it was intended to be written for a pop act,” Micah tells The Pier. “We got into the studio in Santa Barbara, CA and decided to write a pop song, just for fun. It was really not intended to be on the Iration record.” After showing the song to the rest of the band, bassist Adam Taylor adds: “Yeah, we were like: ‘We have to keep this!’
Micah concludes: “I wasn’t even going to sing on it. When we cut it, everybody played, and then I sang it and it came out really cool, so we just ran with it. We’ve always been open to doing stuff that’s far away from ‘Reggae’ because we just want to play good songs and make good music. To me, it’s one of my favorite songs on the record just because it has a super infectious grove, and melody. It’s got the funky, disco kind of thing going, so I like it!”
We enjoy it when bands step outside the box of whats expected or what they’re suppose to do. We hate to see any box put limitations on creation and to add a song like “Last To Know” just adds another layer of depth to the band and their catalog. You can stream “Last To Know” off their new self-titled record or you can own it by clicking HERE!
Watch: Iration – “Last To Know” (Lyrical Video)
Related Links:
Iration Website
Iration Facebook
Article By: Mike Patti
Photo By: In The Barrel Photo
Watch: Iration – “Danger” (ft. J Boog & Tyrone’s Jacket)