When I discovered LA synthpop duo, Leitbur, comprised of Jaron Widman and Samantha Krzyston, back in September with their chilling single, “Heartsink,” I was compelled to dive into their previous material. Needless to say, I fell madly in love and have had plenty of time to obsess over the euphoria that comes out of my speakers whenever I have them playing. The wait for new material was painful to say the least, but so incredibly worth it.
The follow up to their 2012 Think of Tomorrow EP, The Moment That I Knew You is the first of a two part EP; the second installment set to be released later in 2015.
Starting off with the irresistibly catchy (and funky) current single, “Strange In LA,” a track that encapsulates the art of sticking out in a world where the tables have turned, we’re transported to a world where one suddenly realizes that they are indeed the strange ones after all, depending on how you look at it. After living in Brooklyn for the past 20 years, especially as of late, this one hits home. Three words: Keep your fedora.
If I had to describe title track, “The Moment That I Knew You,” in emojis it would most definitely be the starry-eyed one. Gorgeous synth takes you on a ride of bliss mixed with dreams of that special someone in your life that you either have or are longing to have. Keep this one handy for mixtapes and special dates.
“Heartsink,” the track that started it all for me, resurfaces a lot of 2014’s pain and confusion. I’ve used this song on a ton of End of Year playlists to the point where I’m sure everyone got tired of me raving about it. With pleading lyrics, “I don’t wanna build a time machine; I just wanna fill this void I feel,” along with, “We’re buried in the playlists; I only have my hoarding heart to blame,” and “I never thought I’d wash this year away,” makes me realize our threshold for pain is so significant, yet the end results are what it prepares us for. Plus, this version is a few seconds longer than the one previously released last fall, so there’s your nerd tidbit of the day.
“Fairbanks,” one of the EP’s quieter tracks, evokes a sense of 80’s nostalgia that fans of Molly Ringwald will appreciate, while EP closer, “The Long A.M.,” showcases the balance between Widman and Krzyston’s vocals; something most of their tracks seem to evade.
The one thing about Leitbur is that they 80’s pretty hard. Twitter bios don’t lie. John Hughes would have gobbled these two up in an instant. Good thing there is a part II coming soon. You know…to fill those voids we feel.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/98039882″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
The Moment That I Knew You is available now here.
