Monograms - "Floors And Ceilings”
Today, Brooklyn’s Monograms is sharing a brand new EP called Floors and Ceilings, his second collection of tunes in as many years. Last year, we chatted with Ian Jacobs, the songwriter behind the project, about the process of writing and recording Only A Ceiling Can Stay Inside Forever, an album composed entirely of songs born out of his home studio while quarantined. Floors and Ceilings is sort of an extension of those sessions, as Jacobs once again tapped into his creative juices while in isolation to piece together a series of new darkwave-inspired tracks and a dynamite cover of the Bananarama classic, “Cruel Summer.” The EP also features some great remixes of tracks from Only A Ceiling Can Stay Inside Forever from Hiko Men, Dante Fiero, and Hexadiode.
Jacobs’ unique nuke-wave interpretation of “Cruel Summer” is definitely one of the standout tracks on the EP, as it captures the spirit of the original, but in a manner that’s much darker and brooding, and thus in line with Jacobs’ own sonic tendencies. Speaking about the choice of cover and how it came to light, Jacobs shared:
Cruel Summer was a song that I started casually exploring in the wake of last summer. Looking back at those summer months in 2020, as I was living in NYC through all the strife and isolation, the content felt fitting. I also just always dug that song. A perfect pop song from the 80's, when songs like that were anthems. As I kept working on it and started moving around the rubik's cube of the track's tonality into something that felt a bit more comfortable for me, the content is actually pretty dark, which was more appealing to me... even though now i'm hoping this summer is a bit less cruel.
Stream the EP below! Floors And Ceilings is out now via Papercup Music. You can also purchase it on Bandcamp or stream it on Spotify. Keep up with Monograms by following them on Instagram and liking them on Facebook.
