One of life’s overarching themes is the idea of duality. The yin, the yang, Adam and Eve, the double helix, over and under, up, down…the pattern is clear. Fading Collection fit together in the same way, a synchronous blend of two distinct parts. Sarah McGuinn’s gigantic voice and producer/arranger Matt Frickelton’s inspired beatology create twin strands of harmonic resonance; he is the flash and the dazzle, his banks of machines pushing out crashing waves of chaotic energy, while she is the light and the heart, her muscular alto creating weight and melodic structure.
Their music follows the trip-hop meld of the diva and the digital, with touches of Goldfrapp and the dynamic restlessness of DJ Shadow and Lamb. But those are barely starting points. What they do isn’t so easily categorized, with songs that alternate between moody ups and ecstatic downs, slippery and ephemeral, spicy and cool, alive with the crackling charge generated by a pair of uncommon musicians.
Four years have gone by since their last collaboration, 2005’s Supertron, but Fading Collection are dormant no longer. Currently in the process of completing their next full-length record Neutron, the duo has in the meantime produced an EP, Attakk. Acting as contrast to Neutron’s chillier vibe, these five tracks are stripped down and direct, as McGuinn and Frickelton depend on muscle memory to whip rough-hewn hunks of sound into sub-four-minute bursts of quick, dirty, industrialized pop. The approach results in some of the most accessible music they’ve ever recorded, yet preserves enough depth to reward repeat listens.
Known and respected in the Seattle area, McGuinn and Frickelton have been making music together for over a decade. After meeting in college, they initially formed the band Shiver only to radically mutate, shifting their sound away from the acoustic and into the electric at a time when the Seattle music scene was still recuperating from its grunge hangover. More recently, they’ve brought on additional musicians in drummer Jeremy Hill, keyboardist Corey Paganucci, and backup vocalist Tavia Kachel, who now fill out Fading Collection’s emotional and provocative live show.
Over the time they’ve worked together, their fans have downloaded tens of thousands of MP3s from their three full-length records (2002’s Interactive Family Radio, the 2004 remix record Stems and the aforementioned Supertron). They’ve also been a fixture of the Seattle live scene, playing most everywhere in town worth playing while spending time in heavy rotation on the city’s influential KEXP radio station. Their music has been featured on MTV reality shows like The Real World, Road Rules, and Parental Control - as well as on the soundtracks of several indie film productions. With Attakk, Fading Collection is back onstage, ready to begin the second act in their mesmerizing theater of sound.
For more information/booking: info@fadingcollection.com
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