art pop releases new album ‘housecAt’

Based in Austin, Texas, art pop is the project of brothers Max and Miles Grossenbacher, two musicians who’ve spent the last several years treating genre like a set of movable parts. Since first launching the project in 2018, the pair have earned a reputation for making alternative music instilled with humour and curiosity, pulling from dance music, indie rock, experimental pop and leftfield songwriting to make their own unique sound.

Ultimately, art pop feels like an ongoing conversation between two people willing to follow strange ideas wherever they lead. That openness has helped forge a sound that can feel scrappy and energetic one moment, then sharp, layered and emotionally direct the next. It’s music that welcomes contradiction, at once tinged with absurdity and sincerity, resulting in a musical vision that’s struck a chord with listeners around the world.

Their influences tell part of the story, from LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk to Stereolab and Radiohead while Pavement, The Strokes and Car Seat Headrest also feeds into the project’s indie backbone. The brothers introduced their identity with their debut EP sad boy loco, arriving in 2018 as an early snapshot of a project already thinking sideways. They continued to release material that expanded their world and last year’s full-length this is art pop marked another key step forward.

Entirely self-produced and recorded in their parents’ home in Austin, the record carried the energy of artists working freely, turning familiar surroundings into a laboratory for ideas. Now they return with housecAt, a new album that takes their shape-shifting sonic output even further than ever before. Described by the duo as music for “the saddest club that has you in your feelings,” the release reframes indie rock through a house music lens, pairing dancefloor momentum with reflective songwriting.

It’s a concept that could have felt like novelty in lesser hands but art pop use it to explore tension between movement and melancholy. Across the album, previously worked songs from different projects are transformed into indie house rock arrangements, set up by the smokey reversed textures and vocalisations on opening intro piece “sunrise 4 suckers,” slipping listeners into an immersive scene as it swell with immersive layers.

“the party’s never over (and i feel alive right now…)” then lands with bright piano chords and emotive vocal lines before the bubble of synths and pulse of drums ushers in a smooth, dance-focused soundscape. Led by alternating vocal styles, it’s an instantly memorable jam that’s delicate and energising in equal measure. “in my blue house” flows with murky instrumental tones and steady percussive punch as emotive vocals drift above to form a grooving outing that develops with the crisp rattle of drums and expressive vocal leads.

“a house on fire” rolls with marching rhythmic pulse as warbling vocal processing and winding synth lines combine to deliver a catchy and subtly mesmeric musical experience. “but sad kitty don’t dance” pairs harsh instrumental textures and disorienting reversed elements to craft a spacey sonic voyage while “we r rebels” brings a slick blend of tapped percussion, gentle vocals and twanging guitar tones to serve up a breezy fusion of musical stylings wrapped up in a pop-focused setting.

The kibbles N bits remix of “a waiting room” offers a lullaby-esque sound where lilting rhythmic sway and intimate vocals present a charming sound. Closing track “but i don’t know how to try” jumps straight into an uptempo scene of jittery rhythms and pitched vocal elements carrying airy melodies, delivering a stunning finale to art pop’s engrossing new album.

Listen to housecAt below