Brooklyn’s post-shoegaze/alternative rock band SEMAPHORE just released a new EP Leave With the Season, and in conjunction with their recent addition to the line-up of MI’s Bled Fest, we’re pleased to give you the band’s new lyric video for their title track “Leave With the Season”. The band blends a wide range of post-shoegaze, pop punk and post-hardcore influences, along with electronic, jazz, mathcore and metal influences, and seems to be a perfect fit to our diversified roster of bands here on IDIOTEQ. Watch above and leave your thoughts in the comments section below the article.
For Fans Of: Minus the Bear, Deftones, The Smashing Pumpkins, Coheed and Cambria, Sunny Day Real Estate.
The band has described this track as their “hate letter to Brooklyn”. The accompanying video is simple yet suiting, utilizing a backdrop of churning ocean water to reflect the swell of emotion and music. As an extra fun fact, the font/writing shown was done by their drummer, Emmett Ceglia, making it personal and intricate (he’s also involved with Heavenview, Mutilation Rites, Detach the Islands, The Dude Ranch, Autocatalytica, formerly Manic Pixi).
“Leave With the Season is our hate letter to Brooklyn. It reflects the feeling of being attacked by one’s surroundings and city, dealing with annoying neighbors, construction, and having nowhere to run when your small apartment provides no respite. Originally this song was written for a 24 hour songwriting challenge and was the first completely collaborative song that we wrote together!” – Siddhu Anandalingam
Between jazz saxophone transcriptions and chemical engineering problem sets, Siddhu Anandalingam decided that the only way he had time to explore his musical interests would be to combine his varied musical tastes – thus Semaphore was born. Drawing from the musicality and social commentary of artists like Pink Floyd, Tycho, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Smashing Pumpkins, M83, and Tigran Hamasyan, Semaphore’s music is intricate, lush, and hard to pin down to any one genre. Check it out and you will hear a combination of all the best parts of 90s grunge with floaty shoe-gaze vocals, delayed guitar effects, glued together with subtle jazz chord voicings and great production.
After graduating from Columbia University in 2015 with a minor in music, Siddhu moved back home to the suburbs of DC, where he spent the year focusing on writing music, and getting involved in the DC music scene. Upon returning to Brooklyn in mid-2016, Siddhu quickly found the correct musicians for the task of bringing Semaphore’s music to life. At a 2016 Dillinger Escape Plan show, Siddhu recognized Emmett Ceglia while Emmett was crowdsurfing, and remembered him as a friend of a friend who was a fantastic drummer. After connecting with Emmett, he recommended Jay Kohler as a virtuosic math-core guitarist/composer who brought sensitivity and musicality to all projects he was associated with. A couple of months later, Siddhu and Jay met Niko Hasapopoulos while waiting in line to hear Ben Weinman (from Dillinger) give a talk about the music industry. While Niko was just a college student at the time, his excitement and energy was infectious, and he soon signed on as Semaphore’s permanent bassist.
Sometimes sweet, sometimes bombastic, but always entertaining, Semaphore excels at creating an enveloping experience, whether live or through headphones!
Semaphore has released two singles/music videos off their new EP for “Unreliable” and “Pie” (view below).
