Reb Fountain Releases New EP ‘Smoke Signals’
In celebration of New Zealand Music Month, Reb Fountain releases her new EP Smoke Signals with feature single Keep Your Heart Open – out now.
Keep Your Heart Open is the focus track of Reb Fountain’s new EP Smoke Signals. Reminiscent of cinematic, melancholic folk-pop marking the turn of the millennium, it blends a downbeat swagger while celebrating ‘keeping your heart open’ as an act of resistance to the challenges of our times. The anthemic lyrical hook conjures the iconic choruses of The Stone Roses, Dido and The Streets woven with simple, trip-hop beats that harks back to Massive Attack, Portishead and Eminem.
Smoke Signals is a collaborative project between Reb Fountain and producers Dave Khan and Matt Mitchinson. The songs were compiled over time and space as the three friends worked between Sweden and Aotearoa to develop the works. They came together to complete the recordings in Tāmaki Makaurau at Roundhead Studios with De Stevens at the helm. De’s perspective became integral to the sound of the songs and he mixed the EP before sending it off to renowned mastering engineer Greg Obis for completion.
The videos for Reb Fountain’s Smoke Signals EP were a collaborative creation. First Rodeo built the outer real-world visuals and the music videos were filmed in one day at Studio 230 in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland with Director Lola Fountain-Best and Director of Photography Olly Harris at the helm. These videos are vignettes: an opportunity to reflect on our human desire to stay lost in comfortable illusions, which often obscure the reality of the world we’ve created and inhabit. It is possible to notice our patterns and change them: Smoke Signals is a sign and an opportunity to change course for ourselves and our world.
Reb also shares new merchandise: Manu & Mokomoko – Bird & Gecko – Smoke Signals T-shirts with $5 from the sale of each t-shirt to support the work of Forest & Bird. Design by Kalvin Fountain-Best.
Smoke Signals T-shirts available HERE
