Secret Cities

Fargo, North Dakota trio Secret Cities construct sweetly haunting, lo-fi chamber pop melodies. After meeting in band camp, M.J. Parker and Charlie Gokey started making home-recorded cassettes under the name <a href="spotify:artist:5wKvbH9NgH95dfmCdiITwq">White Foliage</a> when they were 15 years old, collaborating by mail from their separate sides of North Dakota. Three years in, after building up a small collection of tapes, a friend put them in touch with the people at Baltimore's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fall+Records%22">Fall Records</a>, who released Secret Cities' first album, Zurich (under the <a href="spotify:artist:5wKvbH9NgH95dfmCdiITwq">White Foliage</a> moniker), in 2005. Drummer Alex Abnos hopped aboard for a subsequent Midwest tour, and the trio spent the next few years tweaking their sound. After signing with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Western+Vinyl%22">Western Vinyl</a> in 2010, the group released Pink Graffiti as Secret Cities, a psychedelic pop record influenced by <a href="spotify:artist:4Q82S0VzF8qlCb4PnSDurj">Brian Wilson</a>. It was quickly followed in 2011 by Strange Hearts, which further explored their mix of classic '60s pop and lo-fi aesthetics. Several singles appeared over the coming two years before the release of 2014's Walk Me Home LP. ~ Jason Lymangrover, Rovi