Pastel Blank Shares New Single + Video “Sweet Nic”Unmade in Minutes Out 4/24 via Paper Bag Records

Artist / Musician

Photo Credit: Kenza Vandenbroeck

LISTEN & SHARE: Pastel Blank – “Sweet Nic”
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LISTEN & SHARE: Pastel Blank – “Shareholder”
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PRAISE FOR PASTEL BLANK

“Victoria BC is filled with premiere indie-rock outfits, but Pastel Blank may take the crown as the coolest. Blank’s genre-bending sounds take cues from new wave, indie rock,
and modern psychedelia“
-Rocktographers

“Canadian indie rock outfit Pastel Blank sees the band, led by songwriter Angus Watt, channel great 90s indie rockers like Pavement, just with a bit more of a playful energy.“
-We All Want Someone To Shout For

“a refreshing blend of art-rock and funk that tantalizes with its hypnotic, colorful songwriting.“
-Playdate Media

“‘Shareholder’ marks a return to the band’s signature “warped fun house” sound, blending angular post-punk guitars with a nervous, jittery funk rhythm reminiscent of ‘Fear of Music’-era Talking Heads.“
-Psychedelic Baby Mag

“The inside out puzzling lyrics, acerbic guitar shapes and stunning artistic sleight of hand has many referencing Pavement and Talking Heads commonplace and while those references makes some sense…But there is no use in comparisons anyway, I mean any description or reference is toward iconic other artists unimportant because Angus Watt and Pastel Blank are cutting their own sonic path“
-American Pancake

Montréal-based art-rock project, Pastel Blank, returned last month with the announcement of their signing to Paper Bag Records, and debut album, Unmade in Minutes, out April 24th.

Today the band is following funky and satirical lead single, “Shareholder,” with an equally tongue-in-cheek and quirky single, “Sweet Nic.”

Pastel Blank is led by singer and songwriter Angus Watt. Known for their genre-bending sounds and incisive lyricism, the band has drawn comparisons to the likes of Pavement and Talking Heads.

“I wrote Sweet Nic after being left unattended with Connor Head’s accursed Juul (while Juul’s were still legal in Canada) when he and I lived together in an apartment in Victoria’s Chinatown,” Watt explains.

The idea was to write a song about (or around) nicotine without using any words that were too obvious, such as “cigarette” or “smoking”. What started as a writing exercise has resulted mostly in confused reactions, or people asking who Nic is. Hopefully the music video with the bruiser cigarette thugs clears things up.“

Influenced by Brian Eno’s Here Come the Warm Jets, Watt was drawn to the balance of silly and sinister, and to oddball characters telling the story.

The music video, shot on a busy summer day in Vancouver’s East Side, features the band dressed as human-sized cigarettes. Their playful approach results in a video that feels both absurd and DIY, while remaining effective and polished in its messaging and presentation.
“Sweet Nic” is out March 18th. Unmade in Minutes is out April 24th via Paper Bag Records.

PASTEL BLANK BIO:

Pastel Blank revolves around the songs and voice of songwriter Angus Watt. It is brought to life by an ever-shifting cast of musicians and recurring collaborators from Montréal, Vancouver, and Victoria, and exists somewhere between a “solo” project and a band.

Experimentation is cloaked in pop-minded song structure: the sheen and gloss of a disco ball glints off the edges of sharp, angular post-punk sensibilities. The groove is a morse code stutter; there is funkiness, but it is tempered by a wide-eyed nervousness, as if the songs themselves aren’t sure what will happen next.

The result is a warped fun house mirror of referentialism: a collage of sounds that are at once familiar and yet also slightly alien in their combination. Pastel Blank offers an opportunity for catharsis: today’s anxieties become tonight’s reason to dance.

For All Pastel Blank Related Press Inquiries Please Contact
Kip Kouri kip @tellallyourfriendspr.com
Spencer Quinn spencer @tellallyourfriendspr.com