AEON STATION featuring Kevin Whelan of THE WRENS releases single/video for “Fade”

AEON STATION
Featuring Kevin Whelan of The Wrens
Embraces His Demons
With New Single/Video “Fade”  
Debut Album Observatory out December 10 via Sub Pop

“Whelan is as equally expressive and in command on the minimalist piano ballads as on the full-blown rockers… the best music Whelan has ever made.” – New York Times

“This is exciting, dynamic, hooky indie rock and if it’s not quite a Wrens song, that doesn’t make it any less great.” – Brooklyn Vegan

“… a heartening return to form from Whelan.” – Consequence of Sound

NOVEMBER 16, 2021 (New York, NY) — As the long-awaited release of Observatory approaches on December 10, 2021 via Sub Pop, the debut album by AEON STATION, Kevin Whelan (one of the main songwriters of iconic indie rock band The Wrens) has offered a third glimpse into the musical world he has created with new single and video “Fade.”

“I wrote this song in part to describe the myriad of emotions I was feeling when making the decision to move to Singapore with my family,” says Kevin. “My wife and I had just bought a house in New Jersey when I was presented with an opportunity from my job to live and work in another country. Once we let go of our fears and embraced the adventure of the unknown, we discovered the experience was better than we could have ever imagined.”

Directed by Laurent Briet (The Strokes “Taken for a Fool”, Beyoncé “1+1”), the dazzling video follows a woman trying to escape her visualized demons. “The song reminds us that we all live with daily fear, disappointment and criticism and it’s up to us to rise above the negative chatter and break through our self-imposed limitations,” he explains. “What the protagonist in the video doesn’t realize is that these negative things… these ‘rocks’… are and will always be around her, no matter how far she runs.” Eventually she overcomes the anxiety and “learns to love and accept the challenges that will always be around her.”

After roughly 18 years since The Wrens’ Meadowlands (2003) struck the indie rock world with a dizzying wallop, Whelan surprised everyone this Summer with the release of “Queens” which Pitchfork found “thrilling” and Stereogum called “exhilarating.” KEXP crowned it “Song of the Day” saying it’s “so much more than we could’ve expected… a climactic five-minute epic.” The second single “Leaves” was met with equal awe from Brooklyn Vegan (“mournful and cinematic”) and SPIN (“a heart-wrenching ballad of self-enduring trials and defeat”). More than a decade in the making, Observatory shines a bright light on Kevin’s songwriting, receiving help on assorted tracks from his Wrens bandmates Jerry MacDonald (drums) and Greg Whelan (guitar) and producer/guitarist Tom Beaujour.

In SxSW’s initial statement about the 2022 conference on March 11-20, 2022, Aeon Station was highlighted as one of its showcasing artists. In response, Kevin posted a jawdropping selfie on social media with Wrens bandmates Jerry and Greg, building a great deal of anticipation.

Tracklisting
Hold On
Leaves
Fade
Everything at Once
Move
Queens
Empty Rooms
Air
Better Love
Alpine Drive    

Observatory is now available for preorder on CD/LP/DSPs from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com.  

“FADE” lyrics
This life you make is bound to fade
Dreams grow old and waste away
The truth will lie or seem unclear
The pain can change or disappear
When all that you know or believe to be true goes wrong
Hold on
It was a night nowhere near where we were
Remembering the parts of a dream we can’t repeat
Wishing all the world would fall around our feet
We need to leave tonight for the life we want to lead
So goodbye to fear
It’s time to disappear
To the unknown
Be on our own
Today is the day we are finally free of pretending
To be something we never wanted
It kept us from dreaming and leaving it behind us 
It’s all in our reach now so just take my hand, won’t you?
No matter the road you’re on you fall at times
The weight of life can pull you under
But have faith get up don’t fall apart
Keep all your strength deep in your heart
You’re more than what you ever wanted
More than what you know
Day after Day it appears we are more
Than we ever believed we could be when it’s ours to
Sing from your chains over and louder
To drown out the noise of the ones who will hate you
Tear at your feelings and keep you to limits
Never compete with the best you can be
With all of your ships you can’t captain
Will one day come back to a glorious meaning
Revealing the one you were meant to be all of the time
Send out your doves to the ravens like lightning to darkness
An endless repeat of you want me and
I want your love to go over the oceans
Countless and counting like 1,2,3, 1,2,3
Searching in patterns that signal a fate we agree
Is designed by the stars for just you and me.