We’re excited to announce a very special addition to our SOUNDS DELICIOUS series today. For this one, Local Natives’ Nik Ewing enlisted a number of his friends, including (the rest of) Local Natives, Cults, The Gloomies, POP ETC, Evan Voytas, and Nico Segal, to reimagine Dennis Wilson’s Pacific Ocean Blue in its entirety. It’s Nik’s first offering under the name Chewing and a radical reinvention of the original album.
Here’s what Nik Ewing had to say about covering Pacific Ocean Blue:
“With zero hyperbole, driving across LA can take half an hour or four days. One of the more manageable times I drove across the city, it took me 37:15, the length of Pacific Ocean Blue by Dennis Wilson. Like many important first album listening experiences, the entire environment surrounding that listen burnt into my memory. It was like that sad, dark album was made specifically for that specific sad, dark drive across LA. A haunted, outcast Beach Boy who still sung simple Beach Boy lyrics like’I’m sorry, I miss you’ but whose weathered voice is painfully more honest without the hollow late 70’s shine from his band (who seemingly didn’t miss him that much).
“I really love when artists give their own radical take on a song (Jukebox by Cat Power is criminally underrated IMO). Luckily this album isn’t as ‘sacred’ as if I covered Pet Sounds in its entirety, which allowed me a lot more liberty. I wanted to re-imagine this album in a much darker and ambient context: to flow like a lost mixtape, to sound cohesive with all the voices (and trumpet, hi Nico!) weaving in and out throughout (and obviously I couldn’t NOT have my band contribute beautiful, lush harmonies to a Beach Boy cover album).”
Once again that beautiful cover art is designed by Seattle-based illustrator Teresa Grasseschi.
Chewing’s version of Pacific Ocean Blue is only available by subscribing to SOUNDS DELICIOUS. In addition to a deluxe edition for our Kickstarter supporters, it’s available on sea blue colored vinyl for recurring subscribers and gift orders of 6-months or more (while supplies last) and on black vinyl for all other orders. As always, each copies comes packaged with an MP3 digital download of the album. As always, it’s limited edition – so act fast! This officially drops on December 21st.
tracklisting:
You can take a listen to the album’s first two singles below:
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