minks: tides end

“Tides End” is the second MINKS album, but you could say it’s a world away from the first. Moving out of New York City to try and cure a bout of writer’s block, frontman/songwriter Sonny Kilfoyle wound up in the East End of Long Island. Surrounded by water on three sides, it’s the same place that drew Warhol, Pollock, de Kooning, Steinbeck and more to escape the constant barrage of information of the urban landscape. The escapist mentality of the location directly and literally affected “Tides End,” as the LP is named for a beachfront estate Sonny had wandered upon one day while out for a drive. Occupied by one family for generations, who after financial decline, are now forced to sell all they own. The experience of seeing old East Coast wealth, surrounded by beautiful Rococo paintings yet no modern appliances was the initial spark to record the LP. Kilfoyle himself purchased a portrait “Margot,” which inspired and named one of the LP’s catchiest tracks. Visions of sipping gin and lemonade’s on the dunes with their future in peril could be Something clearly reflected in the choruses of “Everything’s Fine” and”Playboys of the Western World.” Themes of affluence, decadence and eventual decay in spite of the outside world are everywhere, even by the skull and shells amidst an explosion of color in the Everest Hall painting that graces the cover. This is “Tides End,” indeed. Armed with a new arsenal of material, Sonny connected with producer and engineer, Mark Verbos, who had moved to New York from Berlin after a prolific career in techno and electronic music. The entire album was recorded at Mark’s studio, a former electric room in the base of the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge. “It was actually a very uninspiring and uncreative but it forced us to use our imagination and find new ways to work together,” says Kilfoyle. So when they encountered a creative impasse they would consult The KLF’s “manual” or Verbos would choose a card from Brian Eno’s “Oblique Strategies.” To clear the cobwebs of influence, the producer chose to only allow Sonny to listen to Seal, Simply Red, Enigma, and early Chicago house music during the recording process. This helped build texture and depth in a recording that blended ambience and immediacy to the established foundation of all the of MINKS’ previous work. The result is not just a romantic trip into isolation, but a melodic and warm experience to immerse yourself in. It’s a pop record, with all the hooks and harmonies you’d expect from that, delivered with experience, depth and hope.