Freezing Chilly had an excellent head of steam going earlier than COVID killed its momentum shortly after the discharge of 2019’s Glimmer. Studying their “hurry up and go nowhere” lesson, native Lengthy Islanders Angie Boylan and Jeff Cunningham took their candy time making Treasure Pool (Don Giovanni). Each Freezing Chilly co-founders have logged their indie miles—Boylan as a session and touring drummer for Sleater-Kinney, Aye Nako and Cheeky, Cunningham because the singer/guitarist for Bridge & Tunnel and Unusual Lives.
With its percolating tunefulness, environment friendly 32-minute runtime and midtempo pacing, Treasure Pool seems like a real reconciliation of Freezing Chilly’s DIY punk previous and a extra finespun post-punk/power-pop dynamic. Suppose Remedy by the use of late-’90s Nada Surf, punctuated by occasional J Mascis guitar histrionics.The trio has most actually benefited from the addition of bassist Leanne Butkovic (By no means), who joined the band amid the pandemic.
For its sophomore launch, the trio tracked 10 songs over 24 months in three separate classes at Lakehouse Recording Studios in Asbury Park, N.J., with associates Eric Bennett and Marissa Paternoster (Screaming Females) behind the boards. Boylan, Cunningham and Butkovic supplied further particulars to MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland.
On condition that sophomore releases will be difficult, how does Treasure Pool showcase Freezing Chilly’s evolution since 2019’s Glimmer?
Boylan: On our first album, we had been nonetheless sort of determining our sound and the course. With this new album and lineup, we had a clearer imaginative and prescient. I believe it’s an excellent illustration of who we’re as a band in 2025—and I do assume our sound has modified an excellent bit in comparison with Glimmer. Most clearly, Leanne is enjoying bass and singing and was part of the writing course of. They’ve such sensible concepts for crafting a tune, from the construction and particular notes to the pedals we use and the sound—to not point out vocal melodies and harmonies.
I additionally assume we had been extra intentional with the writing course of. We had extra conversations concerning the course we needed the songs to take and what function every tune serves on the album. We favored heavier guitar sounds and changed the delay pedals with a phaser. We put extra thought and vitality into our tune buildings. We actually needed to include woodwinds by some means, so I went out and purchased a used clarinet on Craigslist and relearned the right way to play it after not selecting one up since highschool. Leanne additionally broke out their saxophone from highschool.
The brand new album attracts on some typical alt-rock components whereas nonetheless managing to sound contemporary and unpredictable. How did you handle that?
Butkovic: We weren’t following any algorithm on the time of writing. However wanting again, I believe we had been attempting to write down issues that adopted typical tune buildings—or a minimum of not a string of unrepeated elements that go from level A to level Z. Then we’d pry these formulation open to stuff in a stunning twist, or a component which may not even actually really feel prefer it belongs at first. One thing like “Eclipse” might be the obvious instance—a regular intro/verse/refrain and easy anthemic rock tune with an virtually spooky minute-long instrumental bridge shoved in there. The album is stuffed with many extra—or much less—dramatic examples than that.
We did a good bit of whiteboard diagraming, which in all probability would’ve appeared like demented cuneiform to different folks. Doing which may have over-intellectualized the method. However it did flip the extra radical selections into decipherable logic that allowed us to think about whether or not we felt the tune labored as a complete. Past construction, we had been all simply pulling from our level of views and discovering compromise throughout the Venn diagram of our tastes.
How has Leanne’s addition to the band modified the dynamic?
Cunningham: Greater than ever, we’re working as a very collaborative unit, bringing elements and sections of songs into apply, pulling them aside and placing them again collectively. Past Leanne’s contributions to writing and performing, they designed the album artwork for Treasure Pool, utilizing a bit of stained glass and paint. In addition they directed and edited our newest music video and created our final two T-shirt designs.
What was the inspiration for the album’s title?
Boylan: It’s an idea we got here up with one evening whereas hanging out at my residence. It was sort of impressed by a visit I’d not too long ago taken to the Oregon coast, the place I noticed the tide swimming pools seem at nightfall, revealing so many creatures and habitats you didn’t know had been there simply minutes earlier than. I learn an outline that referred to as them “distinctive habitats teeming with life, providing a window into the marine world.” There’s some metaphor there about being in a band, absolutely. You create this world collectively, are weak, naked your concepts and inventive expression to at least one one other, and pool all the pieces collectively onto an album that’s ultimately revealed to the world.
You took two years to make Treasure Pool. How does it present within the completed product?
Cunningham: I believe we had been extra impressed by the recording course of this time round. That centered, concentrated time actually helped us zero in on the nuances of what we had been doing. Since we recorded just a few songs at a time whereas nonetheless writing others, we had the prospect to step again and take into consideration the album as a complete. If one thing felt repetitive, we might scrap a tune or simply a part of one. That point and area present within the selection throughout the album. There have been moments after we felt strain to launch it sooner. However letting it take the time it wanted paid off.
See Freezing Chilly stay.
