In addition to playing bass with Midwest emo ensemble It Looks Sad., Lamont Brown has been crafting his own musical identity since releasing a collection of demos as RNIE a full 10 years ago. Over the years that vision has come further into focus with his slacker-rock debut Citrus in 2018 and the more hypnagogic follow-up EP Poncho two years later. But at the end of the summer, he’ll be releasing his most focused artistic statement yet with his second full-length, titled Full Neptune.
“The title comes from the idea of hitting your full potential and ultimately taking the steps to becoming the person you’ve always seen yourself to be in your head,” the songwriter shares. “I’m not super big on astrology, but I do know I am a Pisces. One day I asked myself if I embodied my sign and became this ‘fully realized fish,’ which fish would it be? And I realized I wouldn’t want to be a fish, I’d want to be the king of the sea theirself: Neptune.” Beyond compressing the decade-and-change he’s spent exploring the DIY scene, the new record also notably sees Brown leaning into the formative childhood experiences that informed his upbringing prior to his music career. “The record is a love letter to my younger self growing up in an abusive household and the things that allowed me to have momentary escapism: anime, Toonami, skateboarding, the music I would find through skate videos, and video games. All these shaped my artistic roots.”
This variety of influences comes into focus on the first two tracks he’s sharing from the collection, the instrumental title-track intro and “Bitters.” The former opens with a minimal chant that escalates and distorts into a throbbing club beat, leading seamlessly into a composition that’s a little more familiar to the artist’s discography. “The track ‘Full Neptune’ invites you into the core of the record, your late-night escape, my own Toonami—‘the block’—while ‘Bitters’ tackles the first step to change: being honest with yourself and admitting you may be the one standing in your own way. In that case, it’s allowing procrastination to take over while I watch everyone pass me by because they’re doing the work without breaking.”
Check out both tracks below, and expect Full Neptune to arrive August 22.
