Hello all of you amazing people. Our debut album is out on the very first day of 2021. Please listen and let us know what you think.

Ten Letters Dissolving in Water is an intimate study of a modern relationship from inception to dissolution and beyond, as filtered through the failings of human memories. Afternoon Author uses analog synthesizers and mangled human voices to weave a story about love lost, found, and forgotten.

The songs frame themselves against the backdrop of Afternoon Author’s home state of Arizona, inspired by deserted desert highways in the middle of the night, haunted mining towns, and feral saloons visited by bobcats.

Listen on any of your favorite streaming sites, or--our prefered method--Bandcamp.

Bandcamp

Spotify

Apple Music

Our sixth single, Cottonwood, which was released as a Bandcamp exclusive last month is now available everywhere!

A bobcat walks into a bar in Cottonwood, Arizona, in 2009 and leaves a trail of scratched faces and nipped ears. No good comes from sticking around for the storm. The bobcat burrows in your head; lives there; howls like the wind; cries like a saxophone; falls like rain. Here comes the flood; it dissolves everything.

This indie-electro track features scattered percussion, Pixies-esk angular guitar, and a deep analog bass synth line. It builds to a crescendo with a scattershot of unhinged synthesis signaling the ever-approaching storm.

Click here to listen on your favorite music platform

Hello all,

To celebrate Bandcamp's waiving of fees this Friday, July 3rd, we have released a special Bandcamp only exclusive song: Cottonwood. Technically, the song is free of charge to download, as all of our music is, but if you'd like to pay a little bit for it, that's okay too. 100% of our proceeds from all of our music is currently going to Color of Change https://colorofchange.org

Thank you so much for your support and hope you enjoy it,
Afternoon Author

Hello all,

Just a quick announcement. We have recently finished the final master on our new album, still untitled and still without a release date (shooting for July 2020). The mastering process gave us new versions of the songs we've uploaded to all of the streaming sites. These versions have new mixes and, in some cases, new vocal takes. These are better versions of the music you're currently able to stream on all of the music sites.

We didn't want you to have to wait to hear the updated versions of songs that we've already release, so we've decided to re-release these songs on Bandcamp. You can listen there and also download full quality versions of the tracks. Please follow up on Bandcamp as we may have an exclusive there in the near-future.

Thank you! Click below to follow us:

Afternoon Author

Afternoon Author is an indie-electro group from Phoenix, AZ. The sonic equivalent of taking Radiohead, Caribou, Baths, and SOHN and tangling them all up in your junk drawer, Afternoon Author straddles some crooked line between downtempo, synth-pop, synth-wave, and indie electronic music. We have fi…

Afternoon Author

This is Afternoon Author's fifth single. Mangled voices bubble to the surface as strings and choirs swirl in this cover of the song by The National. The soft patter of percussion and the lone distress signal from an ever-changing analog synthesizer eventually make their appearance, serving as pulsating waves of hope, at war with the melancholy lyrics, "I don't want to get over you."

Listen on your favorite music service!

Official Video

Our fifth single is a cover of The National song, Sorrow. It will be available on May 15, 2020. Please use the link below to presave it on Spotify to make sure it appears in your library. Thank you for your support!

Update: It is out now!

Here is Afternoon Author's lastest single, Mayday!

A left-field indie-almost-dance track, this is us at our poppiest. The song describes the awkward hope of first dates and the ridiculous optimism of infatuation. FM synthesis blankets the song in a throwback 80s sheen, while sharp guitars crash in at key moments underscore the tension of new romance.  

Afternoon Author's debut album is due Summer 2020.

Listen at these places:

Bandcamp

Youtube

Spotify

Apple Music

We are proud to announce our new song, Gila Bend, is now available everywhere!

This is our third single. This is us doing minimal. An introspective song about the only person who can save you from yourself if only they let you stick around long enough. It's the sound of traveling down a scorching desert freeway and through abandoned towns. Analog synths punctuate the air and a soulful melody repeats ("You're my thirst...my water...an interstate") while a ghost choir of voices shuffles in and out. Thank you for listening! Here are all of the links:

Bandcamp

Lyrics Video

Spotify

Apple Music

Soundcloud

Deezer

Thank you to Voyage Phoenix for their awesome interview of us.

Reminder: Listen to all of our music on Bandcamp:

Afternoon Author

Afternoon Author is an indie-electro group from Phoenix, AZ. The sonic equivalent of taking Radiohead, Caribou, Baths, and SOHN and tangling them all up in your junk drawer, Afternoon Author straddles some crooked line between downtempo, synth-pop, synth-wave, and indie electronic music. We have fi…

Afternoon Author

We are excited to announce our third single, Gila Bend, will be released on May 10, 2019. As always, it will be available everywhere you get your music.

Gila Bend is our way of doing minimalist, which, it turns out, isn't very minimalist at all, but alas. The song evokes a meditative drive across a desert highway. Percussion skitters in and out and voices chant just out of reach. The lyrics betray a vulnerability ("My brain won't stop screaming that you'll walk away") and a plea to the person that drives you to keep going ("you're an interstate").

Follow us on Spotify to be notified when Gila Bend is released:

Or pre-order now on iTunes

More coming soon!

It's here! Our new single, Juju (feat. zcb), is out now. First off, below are a bunch of places to listen. Keep scrolling for more detailed information on the song.

Bandcamp:

Spotify:

Apple music:

Youtube Lyrics Video:

Soundcloud:

Okay, phew!

We're really proud of this song. It is darker and more spikey than our last single, Matchless. This song started as a Microkorg jam from Scenery member, zcb. Then, guitar was played, chopped, destroyed and layered on top. Drums were sequenced in a Korg Volca Sample and some additional synth was added using a Korg Volca Keys.

The lyrics deal with that universal yearning of trying to carve out a bright future for yourself while not letting the past interfere.

Lyrics:

The future towers above
Chrome and glass and love
I can't help but look down
The past won't lose ground

The future siphons us in
Forgives us all our sins
The voices hiss and they buzz
The ghosts of all my ex-loves

The good times were just a trap
Reach for them and bad times just come flooding back

The good times were a trap
Reach for them and bad times just come flooding back

The good times were a trap
Reach for them and bad times just come flooding back

The good times were a trap
Reach for them and bad times just come flooding back

Futures they've all gotta end
In white rooms surrounded by friends
The past will catch its prey
The juju of my decay

Follow us:

Instagram: @afternoonauthor

Facebook: https://facebook.com/afternoonauthor

Twitter: @afternoonauthor

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/afternoonauthor

We are excited to announce our second single Juju (feat. zcb) which is being released everywhere on March 15th!

We are pretty proud of this one. It is darker and more spikey than our last single, Matchless. This song started as a Microkorg jam from Scenery member, zcb. Then, guitar was played, chopped, destroyed and layered on top. Drums were sequenced in a Korg Volca Sample and some additional synth was added using a Korg Volca Keys.

The lyrics deal with that universal yearning of trying to carve out a bright future for yourself while not letting the past interfere.

Update: Juju is out now!

Its finally here! Our first single, Matchless, is streaming in all of the popular music services and digital music stores. We hope you like it! Listen below:

Bandcamp

Spotify

Also, don't forget the lyrics video:

For a link to all of the stores it is in:

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/afternoonauthor/matchless

Let us know what you think on Instagram or Twitter:

https://instagram.com/afternoonauthor

https://twitter.com/afternoonauthor

Hello all!

Our first single, Matchless, gets released everywhere tomorrow, January 8th, but we have decided to make its lyrics video live now! Check it out and let us know how you like the song.

Well, sorry. I meant to do a daily blog but some things got in the way. I had to take an unplanned trip out of town on Sunday, so really I've only had two days of RPM work so far. I'm happy with the results, though!

Friday, February 1st

The RPM Challenge starting on a Friday is cool for us weekend warriors. In the past, I've made the mistake of starting with an epic idea. I'm not sure if the first RPM song I've started has ever made it onto the final album. So, this year, I've changed course and started with something straightforward.

I found a song I had recorded a demo of in 2005 called The Last Day of Summer. The demo was just me and an acoustic. Three chords, three verses and no chorus for a snappy two-minute ballad. Easy, right? Oh, how I forget the easy songs are the hardest.

I started with Logic Pro piano layered with a Korg Volca Keys and Korg Volca Sample drums, with a simple synth bass line. The cheery music will juxtapose with the sadder lyrics. I recorded the Volca Keys live as I messed with the cutoff, decay and sustain, which gives the song an off-kilter feel. I can't say it all worked together, though. The song is all major chords and feels too bouncy. I'll need to record some scratch vocals to make sure it works at all. Not sure this one will make the cut; the streak may continue.

Anyway, if you want to hear it, here is the SoundCloud embed:

Saturday, February 2nd

I love making music in the morning. There's something about sipping coffee with one hand while playing a bass line on the keyboard with the other hand that is life-affirming.

Friday's project was too clean and happy, so I wanted to try something with some grit and energy. With the aptly titled Day Two I started with the bass, using the Retro synth in Logic. I love the Retro Synth. The bass sound is clipped short almost mimicking a tuned bass drum him (like an 808 but not quite). It hits on eighth notes while the real bass drum plays something a little more off-beat. I'm living the bass and the drums on this. The synth sounds are Alchemy from Logic and the Volca Keys again. More arpeggiator but I automated the timing to step down the tempo gradually. I haven't written lyrics or a melody to this yet, but I like the beginning of it.

Here's the SoundCloud embed:

Other Stuff

I started a couple of other projects—more like sketches—that may or may not turn into anything. I posted the following Korg Volca Keys jam on Instagram:

Excited for the rest of the week now! Hope to post more soon.