The first thing one hears on "Somewhere Before," the debut LP from Fayetteville sibling trio Modeling, is the sound of a tape being placed in a cassette player and the play button being pushed. From there, the staticky drum and wavering synth of the title cut begins. It's an instrumental; the synths swell a bit then recede and the drum drops out entirely; by the end there seems to be a darkness creeping in. It's not hard to imagine someone listening to this while traveling through space, alone.
It's a hypnotic start to the moody, electro indie pop that makes up the eight songs on "Somewhere Before," which brothers Connor (vocals, guitar, synth), Ryan (drums) and Cuinn Brogan (synth) recorded at their home studio in 2020. There are dance-floor bangers ("Nothing Unexpected"), atmospheric soundscapes ("Drifting") and squalling guitar ("Remnants").
Lyrically, the group explores themes of loneliness and nostalgia. Nowhere are these subjects more evident than on the epic, Beach House-like final track, "In Creases," which clocks in at nearly 9 minutes. Through heavily processed vocals, Connor sings: "Saying goodbye at the hospital bed/the last year you were home for Christmas/it still felt like a family then."
The album, which was mastered by Robin Schmidt (The 1975, Japanese House), was released digitally on Sunday and is available on cassette and CD. A vinyl record version is planned, but likely won't show up until next year — curse you, supply chain shortages and high vinyl demand. See modelingmusic.bandcamp.com for details.
To celebrate the "Somewhere Before" drop, Modeling will perform Friday at Vino's Brew Pub in Little Rock with Frailstate and The Streakers opening.
The Brogans grew up in Jacksonville and were in a pop-punk band more than a decade ago called P.M. Today. There were other projects over the years, but Modeling has become their musical focus.
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The genesis of "Somewhere Before" can be traced to "Lodestar," a track dating to 2015 that the Brogans decided to rework.
"That track kind of created the whole album for me," says Ryan, 33. "When we started building that song, it was very much influenced by the movies 'Bladerunner' and 'Drive.' I was listening to the scores of those two movies a lot."
It's a far cry from their earlier, guitar-based music, says 34-year-old Connor, who notes that the synth-based soundtrack to the horror film "It Follows" was also inspirational.
"We got really bored with the guitar, drum and bass arrangement. We wanted to do something that was more exciting for us, creatively."
Synths, says Cuinn, 31, allow the band "to really mold a sound. You can get just about anything imaginable out of it, versus what I was doing with guitar in the old band, which felt like I was just playing parts."
But never underestimate the lure of the six-string. Connor, the band's lyricist, acknowledges that he has gravitated back to the guitar, but with a different approach.
"In P.M. Today, we did a lot of guitar stuff, and it was more flashier and less atmospheric. Being inspired by the synthesizer and bringing guitar back into our music, I'm looking at it now in a different way, as more of a textural instrument with modulation and trying to make it sound like a synthesizer."
The album was made with funding help from a grant awarded to Connor by Artists 360, a program of Mid-America Arts Alliance that is supported by the Walton Family Foundation and provides grants and development opportunities to artists in Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Sebastian and Washington counties.
The show on Friday will be the first time the brothers have played there as Modeling.
"We haven't played there in probably seven or eight years, and we're playing with some really cool bands," Ryan says.
Modeling Record Release Show
- Opening acts: Frailstate, The Streakers
- 7 p.m. Friday, Vinos’ Brew Pub, 923 W. Seventh St., Little Rock
- Admission: $15
- Information: (501) 375-8466 | vinosbrewpub.com