Fall in Boston is moving season. On their debut LP “The Autumn Here,” out today, Robo Pumpkin tell the story of the couple who don’t get out: two people in a shared house, watching their friends leave one by one while the seasons keep cycling forward.
The other thing worth knowing up front is that there’s no guitar on the record. Every melody and chord across the album is played on bass by Max Adams, who runs the project. “At this point, 4 albums in and writing music like this for nearly 10 years at this point, writing with the bass guitar has become second nature,” he says.
“There are absolute limitations, some that can be frustrating at times, but for the most part those limitations help kindle creativity in a way I find necessary.”
Lead single “Wouldn’t You?” arrived April 24 along with the album announcement, and the full LP lands today. Adams describes the opener as a primer for the rest of the record: the quick tempos and heavy bass tones that run across every track on “The Autumn Here.”
The concept follows a couple living together after the rest of their friends have moved away. Love, loss, and the beauty in the mundane, in Adams’ words. Year after year the two rot in their home with no intention of leaving, despising their circumstances anyway. Seasonal depression hangs over the whole record, with the seasons cycling past and autumn standing in as a sign of what’s coming.
Adams lays out the arc himself: “The intro title track immediately sets the precedent of the anticipated autumn, both the most hated season by the characters along with when they are planning to move in together, as is accustomed in Boston (moving in the fall). Fall means a lot of thingsโฆ but mainly the weather won’t get any better, and your friends are moving away. In the next 2 tracks we see a glimpse of summer before fall where the couple do their best to make the most of their freedom. The middle track ‘Back to Normal’ shows how seasonal depression in New England can be a vicious cycle where the spring and summer convince you that everything is fine, before going right back to where you started. This cycle comes to fulfillment in the final track Epilogue where the two are actively in it and the years begin to pass, with the ominous lyric ‘and so for now we can be found over here’ repeats, showing how stuck they really are.”
Wyลwietl ten post na Instagramie
Track-by-track from Max Adams
“The Autumn Here”
“The intro title track immediately sets the precedent of the anticipated autumn, both the most hated season by the couple along with when they are planning to move in together, as is accustomed in Boston (moving in the fall). Fall means a lot of thingsโฆ but mainly the weather won’t get any better, and your friends are moving away.”
“What if it Rains?”
“It is a quick jump back to the present where the main characters are trying to make the most of the summer, but the viewpoint character is having trouble finding the motivation to do anything, using unsound logic to convince himself it’s ok to stay inside alone. The second verse highlights this along with prior song’s recounting of his friends all moving away with the lyric ‘Suffolk County’s got more lonely.'”
“Burn Your Nose”
“Mid summer before the big move in where the couple finds themselves slowly falling out of the ‘honeymoon phase.’ It’s all together a pretty happy song where the characters are just trying to make the most of their summer; staying up late, driving to Maine for the weekendโฆ all while the move is looming in the back of their minds.”
“I’ve Beenโฆ”
“The couple at this point have moved in together and are trying to work out how to get along together in this new situation. They are starting to be upset by each other’s habits like smoking and going out late at night. The track talks about the necessary sacrifices that have to be made to keep a relationship together.”
“Back to Normal”
“Back to Normal is a confessional from the speaker talking about how their relationship has disappointed him, along with sharing his insecure and naive understanding of what a relationship is meant to be.”
“The Autumn Here” is out now. Stream and follow Robo Pumpkin on Bandcamp (robopumpkin.bandcamp.com) and Instagram (@robopumpkin).
Wyลwietl ten post na Instagramie
๐ IDIOTEQ is ad-free, independent, and runs on one person’s time. If you want it to stay that way: DONATE via PayPal ๐๐ SUPPORT via Patreon.
Stay connected via Newsletter ยท Instagram ยท Facebook ยท X (Twitter) ยท Threads ยท Bluesky ยท Messenger ยท WhatsApp.
