Not to be confused with Purple Haze, which is both a cannabis strain and a Jimi Hendrix song inspired by a dream in which he walked under the sea, Indigo Daze is a similarly colorful project self-described as “kitchen pop” (the best kind of K-Pop?). Transverso is proud to exclusively premiere their debut EP, The Fairy House.
The shoebox art project cover image is appropriate, as Indigo Daze is self-released by students who, after meeting in grade school in the Chicago suburbs, are now scattered across the country: Jack Maiolo in Boston (Guitar, Vocals, Songwriting, Production), Connor Teske in Nashville (Guitar, Vocals, Songwriting, Production), Rafa Swerdlin in Brooklyn (Vocals, Songwriting), Austin McGreevy in Miami (Vocals, Songwriting), and Will Johnson in Lansing, Michigan (Vocals). The Fairy House was written in just two weeks and recorded in Teske’s parents’ basement over summer break.
With Maiolo and Teske enrolled in Berklee College of Music and Belmont University, respectively, the playful Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared aesthetic and ironic detachment do little to belie a seriousness for the craft that comes with such trained musicians. With no true frontman, songwriting and vocal duties are split almost evenly, culminating in a diverse yet cohesive collection of tunes spanning from psychedelia to elements of chill/vaporwave and R&B.
“Turquoise Yawn,” the glittering lead single and first track ever released by the band, first peeks over the horizon, driven by the obscured incantation of a chorus swirling just out of reach. With lush hints of Tame Impala and the entrancing synthetic creep of Yeasayer, the EP goes on to maturely flesh out a sound that nods to indie canon through the smoke while still carving out a unique voice of its own.
Its supremely listenable softened edges and non sequiturs feel neither vapid nor self-serious, comfortably occupying a dreamy yet stimulating trajectory held together by steady drum machine locomotion. “Life’s one strange game / Surprises arise / It’s never mundane” it offers, matter-of-factly.
When the haze eventually lifts after just under 20 minutes, you’re left wondering just how long you’ve been suspended in The Fairy House. With the end of the final track wrapping nearly perfectly into the start of the first, you never really have to leave at all.