'The Universe Smiles Upon You II' was recorded on January 4-6, 2025, in the same family barn of guitarist Mark Speer, across the same dates where 'TUSUY' was first conceived ten years earlier. Though the conditions were the same–dirt floor, brutally cold, minimal sound isolation, all takes live–the songs aren’t. They’re re-approached, some changed more than others, harnessing the lightning-in-a-bottle energy of 'TUSUY' while discovering what would be unique this time around, in this stage of the band’s life. The result moves like ripples on the water across ten hypnotizing tracks, the barn creating a sense of spaciousness, serenity and creative freedom, nearby wildlife (listen out for the birds on 'August Twelve II'), rattles and creaks of the barn and all. It’s a tapestry of small movements in nuanced arrangements, slowly revealing the new life, stories and character of someone you’ve met again for the first time in ten years.
'The Universe Smiles Upon You II' was recorded on January 4-6, 2025, in the same family barn of guitarist Mark Speer, across the same dates where 'TUSUY' was first conceived ten years earlier. Though the conditions were the same–dirt floor, brutally cold, minimal sound isolation, all takes live–the songs aren’t. They’re re-approached, some changed more than others, harnessing the lightning-in-a-bottle energy of 'TUSUY' while discovering what would be unique this time around, in this stage of the band’s life. The result moves like ripples on the water across ten hypnotizing tracks, the barn creating a sense of spaciousness, serenity and creative freedom, nearby wildlife (listen out for the birds on 'August Twelve II'), rattles and creaks of the barn and all. It’s a tapestry of small movements in nuanced arrangements, slowly revealing the new life, stories and character of someone you’ve met again for the first time in ten years.