Wymond Miles

In 2008, while San Francisco's <a href="spotify:artist:6Ri83BLqlgaqIc9jwSgAn1">the Fresh & Onlys</a> were busy readying Grey-Eyed Girls and Play It Strange, the garage-psych group's guitarist, Wymond Miles, was writing songs on the side using his eight-track Tascam home recorder. Inspired by artists like <a href="spotify:artist:04tBaW21jyUfeP5iqiKBVq">Scott Walker</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0fgYKF9Avljex0L9Wt5b8Z">Echo & the Bunnymen</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5iksmHDN2qZQcgFfXqIXtT">Robert Wyatt</a>, though Miles' material is performed and recorded on his own, his output tends to be sonically dense and somber, sculpted out of guitars, drums, bass, synth, and dreamy vocals, clouded in the echoes of cathedral reverb. Recording and touring with <a href="spotify:artist:6Ri83BLqlgaqIc9jwSgAn1">the Fresh & Onlys</a> took up most of his musical time, but in 2012 Miles finally released his first EP of material, Earth Has Doors, quickly followed by the full-length Under the Pale Moon. Both were released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sacred+Bones%22">Sacred Bones</a>, as was his quickly completed second album, 2013's Cut Yourself Free. For his next record, Miles split time between recording at his home studio and with producer Phil Manley at El Studio in San Francisco. Less psychedelic and new wave-inspired, 2016's Call by Night was written mostly on piano, a first for Miles, and showcased a wider range of styles (sea shanties, expansive ballads, gospel). It was released in July by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Sacred+Bones%22">Sacred Bones</a>. ~ Jason Lymangrover, Rovi