Who Does the Music Love?

by Outer World

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$7 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Outer World vinyl LP on black vinyl comes in a full color jacket with insert and download card.

Includes unlimited streaming of Who Does the Music Love? via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

Purchasable with gift card

$18 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Outer World vinyl LP on blue vinyl comes in a full color printed sleeve with insert and download card.

Includes unlimited streaming of Who Does the Music Love? via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

Purchasable with gift card

$20 USD or more
T-Shirt/Shirt
1 color prints on Comfort Colors 1717 Pepper, Blossom, Island Green, and Granite Colors. Assorted Availibility.

ships out within 3 days

$25 USD or more
T-Shirt/Shirt
1 color prints on Comfort Colors 1717 Granite and Topaz blue tees.

ships out within 3 days

$25 USD or more

1.	The Drum the Beat 02:52 video	lyrics	buy track
You came rumbling Like thunder Struck by lightning I wonder Who's the drum Who's the beat When we meet The hand is a compass The body a map We’ll find Our own way back Leave me something Bells ringing Nothing but sound Pure stinging Who's the drum Who's the beat When we meet The hand is a compass The body a map We’ll find Our own way back
2.	Flower Gunpowder 03:50	lyrics	buy track
A strange kind of heat, vanity to infinity Flower gun powder Fruit of sun, yesterday’s undone Unseen geometry For every shadow cast a spot light contrast The end has met the beginning At last Chiaroscuro Unseen geometry The waiting eye, proof of dimension anatomy Flower gun powder Fruit of sun Yesterday’s undone For every shadow cast a spot light contrast The end has met the beginning at last Chiaroscuro Unseen geometry Flower gun powder Fruit of sun Yesterday’s undone
3.	Forms of Knowing 02:42	lyrics	buy track
An exit is coming an opening growing We remember the things we'd like to forget Aujourd hui a moi moi moi Demain a toi toi toi We whisper let us go a numinous rising hands sweeping up lost time We aren't going going anywhere The things we miss most are hived like honey First one asleep escapes the gravity Aujourd hui a moi moi moi Demain a toi toi toi toi We aren't going going anywhere We aren't going going anywhere
4.	Have 03:31	lyrics	buy track
Is there, it’s there a constructive way to list your limitations Is there, it’s there a constructive way to adjust to the circumstance Who will break Is there, it’s there a constructive way to relieve this tension Is there, it’s there a constructive way to admit defeat Who will break Oh I was careful Of the how and to whom I gave myself away to because this is all I have to give
5.	The Message is the Message 04:08	lyrics	buy track
Every hour Every minute Every instant My breath is a record. The world doesn’t want these things Doesn’t need these things But if they do, they’re here. The medium is not the message. The message is the message. I am not the beginning. I am not the end. I am a link in the la di dah la di dah Possibility doesn’t stop, People do. A dream in the developing room Imagination is our greatest hope for survival Without worry we are free I am not the beginning. I am not the end. I am a link in the la di dah la di dah.
6.	Outer World 02:48	lyrics	buy track
I love the music! What it is To be Colorful vibrations Who am I? Who I am. I love the music. Who does the music love? If I am nowhere (Outer World) I have anywhere to to go (Outer World) I love the music. Who does the music love? I love the music What it is To be Colorful vibrations Who am I? Who I am. I love the music Who does the music love (Outer world)
7.	Loteria 03:16	lyrics	buy track
Naked The truth his truth her truth The mouth is a museum holding our heated words There is no history of luck (Loteria) Resting His tongue invites device Brave man has a good blade he gets carried away We lay them on the table the cups, the coins, the swords, the wands but the fool is the one who puts faith in the universe Whose hand is on the wheel (Loteria) There is no history of luck Whose hand on the wheel (Loteria)

about

Who wouldn’t want a break from planet earth after the past few years we’ve all had? Kenneth Close and Tracy Wilson have built themselves a new universe in the form of a home recording studio to transport themselves a galaxy away from the grief, fear, and worry the pandemic brought. The duo dubbed themselves Outer World and they blasted off into an entirely new to them corner of the musical universe to create their debut album Who does the music love?

Covid moved into Wilson’s lungs in February of 2020 and overstayed its welcome. It stole what she describes as “her big voice”. For those familiar with her previous bands Dahlia Seed or Positive No, her trademark, no need for a microphone belt, was gone for good. The couple grieved for the literal loss of a primary instrument used in their art, but were determined to find a way back to making music again.Together, they began exploring the world of songwriting using a computer, samples, synths, and plug-ins. The goal was to create a new musical landscape where Tracy could find a new voice that wasn’t as focused on power, but still potent nonetheless. The next two years were spent wrestling with long Covid and finding ways to work around each new frustrating lingering side effect.

Close and Wilson had spent the previous decade creating technicolor post-punk pop as the band Positive No. Their final cinematic album Kyanite dabbled with electronic sounds and hints that had they remained active through the past three years, their indie rock genre banner would have been torn down to make way for something more free adventurous. Their current home studio sits in the center of what they lovingly call the record womb, a computer surrounded by some 7,000 records and all their instruments/ recording gear. Tucked into the layers of Who does the music love? is a century of recorded music from all over the world. We find the dynamic swing of a Swedish soul jazz singer on top of Bond worthy spy themes. We hear the sensuality of France in the ‘60’s when in swaggers a wink to ‘90s house music. There is a tug-o-war between a ‘70s angular post punk and experimental Brazilian psych. Cosmic Jazz, noisecore, freakbeat breaks, space age bachelor pad Moog mayhem, and the treatment of the iconic retro-future group Broadcast as a genre and chosen family. This diverse blend is just some of Outer World’s psychedelic garage pop points of inspiration. It is music to make any crate digger's heart skip a beat.

A six songs demo in the summer of 2022 was reshaped at the Sweeping Promises home studio in Lawrence Kansas with the additional help of Keith Renna on drums; fellow member of Positive No with a proven chemistry to Close and Wilson. A 7th song was written that fall, and then the entire body of work was handed over to Maryam Qudus (Spacemoth) for her artful mixing. Outer World’s long EP had metamorphosed from song sketches used for vocal rehab and a pandemic escape hatch into a reverb drenched, hallucinogenic fever dream. Thematically the pandemic is never given the spotlight; it was merely the dirt from which these flowers bloomed: Lotteries (Loteria), an artist’s complicated relationship with making art (Outer World), notes to self written on hotel stationary (Have), French proverbs (Forms of Knowing), Chiaroscuro contrasts (Flower Gunpowder), Keith Haring’s personal musings (The Message is the Message), and the power dynamics in relationships (The Drum, The Beat - featuring Lira Mondal of Sweeping Promises on backing vocals). Chicago illustrator Sara Gossett carries us out of this world and into a colorful cosmic universe where joy radiates out in all directions.

It would be tempting to call Outer World a pandemic project or assume their debut record carries the emotional weight of terrible times, but you would be wrong on both counts. Outer World is a band nearly 15 years in the making and Who does the music love? is a blissful rainbow wrapped up in a giant silver lining bow. Problem solving around a tragedy has never sounded so curiously enthralling.

credits

released March 22, 2024

All songs written by Kenneth Close & Tracy Wilson
Recorded in Lawrence, Kansas with Caufield Schnug
Mixed by Maryam Qudus at Best House
Mastered by Carl Saff
Album artwork by Sara Gossett
Album layout by Kenneth Close

All instrumentation, sound design, programming and noise,
by Kenneth Close & Tracy Wilson
Live drums performed by Keith Renna
Additional vocals on “The Drum the Beat” performed
by Lira Mondal
Extra textures and goodies by Maryam Qudus

Special thanks to Keith Renna, Mike Turner,
Caufield Schnug, Lira Mondal, Maryam Qudus,
Sara Gossett, Shawn Brackbill, Erin O’Hare,
Nate Rubin, Frannie, and Radar
for helping make all of this a reality.

license

about

Outer World Richmond, Virginia

Retro-future, crate digger delights, French freakbeats, psychedelic garage-pop, Bond spy themes, space-age post-punk, '80s NYC disco punk, and sensual subtexts.

Booking: outerworldsound@gmail.com

Instagram

shows

Apr 24

Fuzzy Cactus

Richmond, VA
Apr 25

The Government Center

Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 26

MOTR

Cincinnati, OH
Apr 27

VCR

Chicago, IL
Apr 28

Outer Limits Lounge

Detroit, MI
Apr 30

The Happy Dog Saloon

Cleveland, OH
May 1

Tubby's

Kingston, NY
May 2

Deep Cuts

Medford, MA
May 3

Sip Studios

Jersey City, NJ
May 4

Normals Records

Baltimore, MD
May 18

WTJU 91.1 FM

Charlottesville, VA

contact / help

Contact Outer World

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Outer World, you may also like:

Kyanite
by Positive No

supported by 15 fans who also own “Who Does the Music Love?”

I have been a fan of Tracy Wilson's vocals since I saw Dahlia Seed play in an apartment in Isla Vista. Still a fan today. She picks some excellent bandmates. John Isaacson
go to album
Good Living Is Coming For You
by Sweeping Promises

supported by 13 fans who also own “Who Does the Music Love?”

White Stripes meets ESG this shit slaps Harvey Cliff
go to album
Principia
by En Attendant Ana

supported by 13 fans who also own “Who Does the Music Love?”

Such good healing energy on this album. Perfect for recovering from surgery. Thoughtful, plaintive, free of kitschy standard rock moves. Probably still good without the surgery. ;) spencer_huggies
go to album
IMMEDIATELY Remixes
by Perfume Genius

Perfume Genius recruits A.G. Cook, Boy Harsher, Jenny Hval, and more for a remixed edition of 2020's acclaimed "Set My Heart On Fire." Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 17, 2021
go to album
Somnium
by Jacco Gardner

A new record of swirling and hypnotic psych-prog from Jacco Gardner that celebrates the immersive magic of the album format. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 14, 2018
go to album
Letter to New York
by Johanna Glaza

Recalling Kate Bush, Glaza's adventurous vocals dance over immersive pop that is folksy and dramatic. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 13, 2014
go to album
Hunger for a Way Out
by Sweeping Promises

supported by 12 fans who also own “Who Does the Music Love?”

You had me at Kleenex/LiLiPUT meets ESG Tom
go to album