So here I am scrolling through Twitter late last night, moving past the commentary on Chris Brown’s latest bit of fuckery, trying to find some substance in my social media exploration. Then I get to a good chunk of news: Fresh Selects, one of my favorite independent labels, signed a new artist called a race of angels.
Who?
No capitalization in the name. Just the obscure persona of a shadowed man. “Really only a select few know about aroa [a race of angels] so far,” the label tweeted. Apparently a race of angels has been hidden in Los Angeles’ underground music scene for the better part of a decade. Those “select few” people include the likes of Thundercat and Garth Trinidad, who hosts a popular radio show on KCRW in California.
A Google search shows little to no blog coverage, and the artist’s Bandcamp has songs released in 2005. (Who knew Bandcamp’s been around that long???) But here we are, on the fringe of two new projects from a race of angels. The first, a three-song EP set to drop next week ahead of a full-length album aimed with a summer release.
The Cali artist’s newest song, “Hiding In The Light,” is the first in two years. (a race of angels’ SoundCloud shows a song that dropped two years ago, then the most recent one before that being two years ago.) The song features calming and lush production, brought together by a clean guitar and a string section arriving as the song carries on. a race of angels sings, “the truth is hiding in the light,” pointing at a common theme that what’s right and true usually isn’t hidden in the shadows — like a race of angels has been for the last for the last 10 years. Typically, it’s right in front of us.
Well now we have a race of angels right in front of us, locked and loaded with two projects. He’s been a secret for years, but why is the world now ready for a race of angels? I guess we’ll get our first hint at an answer when Before The First Goodbye arrive April 8. Stream “Hiding In The Light” below.
