There’s something poetic, something magic, about being awake at four in the morning. Not just because of Leonard Cohen’s “Famous Blue Raincoat”—though the mesmerizing mystique of that song is undoubtedly part of it—but because it’s a time when most of the world is asleep, when everything looks and feels different. It’s an in-between that bridges the previous night and the coming morning, where possibilities and potential lurk, but also when trauma and ghosts can come alive and haunt you most fully.
It’s a feeling and a state of being as much as it is a time, and it’s one that Suburban Eyes have encapsulated with “4AM.” The band is a collaborative project between Eric Richter (Christie Front Drive, Antarctica), Jeremy Gomez (Mineral, The Gloria Record), and John Anderson (Boys Life), in which they infuse their previous emo/indie/post-hardcore/punk lives with the wisdom and experience of being older and seeing what the world has in store for those lucky enough to make it through youth. Meanwhile, the latest single from their forthcoming self-titled debut is also the result of the collision of two rather unlikely sources of inspiration, as Richter explains.
“I had a cassette copy of Toad the Wet Sprocket’s Fear in high school,” he says, “and the song ‘Is It for Me’ really resonated with me for some reason. I had a very vivid picture of how the lyrics looked like played out in my mind. ’4AM’ is in that spirit. I named it after reading the announcement of Wayne Shorter’s death that read, ’Today at 4 a.m., Wayne Shorter peacefully continued on his immense journey into the unknown.’ I thought that was pretty, so I used the time of his death as a tribute of sorts, and because it fit the subject matter of the song. After the song was mixed and finished, I revisited the Toad the Wet Sprocket song and, coincidentally, the meeting time of the characters in the story is 4 a.m. There are some paths you cannot avoid."
Leonard Cohen—and Toad the Wet Sprocket, and Wayne Shorter—would all be proud. Listen to the song below, and expect Suburban Eyes’ debut to arrive August 30 via Spartan Records.
