New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Indie psych-rock electronic artist and multi-instrumentalist White Cliffs (aka Rafe Cohan) has today released "Easy Go," the lead single off his second EP of 2021, 101, coming Friday, May 7.
"Easy Go" is a synth groove, mellow yet upbeat and suitable for the deepest of daydream listening on a long exploratory walk through the Big Apple. Of the track, Cohan says, "'Easy Go' is loosely based on the New York experience. Just when you think things are looking up, you are met with a new challenge. But you wanted to live here, so, might as well enjoy the ups and downs."
In February of this year, White Cliffs released his debut EP Stockholm, with singles and self-directed/produced music videos for "Kick The Can" a playful song about mortality and aging and "
Just Like You" a catchy groove about imposter syndrome. "
Just Like You" premiered in American Songwriter in January of this year. White Cliffs recently appeared in Vents Magazine with the premiere of "Kick The Can" and also discussed the life-altering properties of seeing Khruangbin live in LA Weekly and the Village Voice.
White Cliffs 101 EP feat. "Easy Go" comes out Friday, May 7.
White Cliffs' music is a mood. The Brooklyn-based singer, songwriter, producer, guitarist, pianist and percussionist effortlessly blends psychedelic elements with indie rock, soul and electronic. Multi-instrumentalist Rafe Cohan creates a soundscape that cascades from one world to the next, conjuring up a sun-drenched stroll on the beach, a winding adventurous road trip or a warehouse rooftop overlooking the city.
If there are two sides of a musical coin, he's a purist on one and an unconventional creator on the other - in one moment enveloped in the mastery of instruments and another lost in the art of producing. It's a complex that he might at times find to be a curse to his canvas, but in reality, it is the reason behind the resulting collage of sound. After years of honing his craft, experimenting with a variety of instruments, genres and vocal styles, under the moniker White Cliffs, the act's music took off starting in 2017, securing a cross-country tour with Big Wild, among other acts like Elderbrook, STS9, in addition to a set at the Panorama Festival in New York City and debuting a four-person band at CRSSD Festival in San Diego.
White Cliffs' music is beyond eclectic. "To me, the inspiration has always come from a blend of songwriting and guitar tones, as well as the creative use of effects, synthesizers, and unconventional recording methods," he says. "I have found the most happiness making music at my apartment, rather than going to a commercial facility. After so many hours spent in a big studio troubleshooting things, I eventually sought to build a simpler set up at home for recording."
White Cliffs most recent release, the Stockholm EP, is a nod to the artsy loft space Rafe has been living in and kicks off with "Who You Are," a classic relationship song with a blurry, fuzzy quality about the standoff that occurs when things need to be worked out better and that it's worth figuring it all out. "It's like when somebody insinuates that you are not satisfied with their identity but it's more about the relationship as a whole than the person."
The dynamic anthem "
Just Like You" is a dazzling merry-go-round of guitar effects that sounds like a Ferris wheel or amusement ride at sunset. "It's about imposter syndrome - it's about the person rather than the person everyone knows."
"Lonely Guy" pops and pulses on the keys with a faint, manipulated vocal, reflecting the song's meaning. "It's really about the unfortunate profitability of division. The song tells a dark little tale of someone who sows division in a community for personal financial gain."
Finally, "Kick The Can" offers a wholesome, campy guitar riff as an old person is at the end of their fulfilled life. "When you're old, everyone's distraught about their limited time left with you. Meanwhile, you try to explain that it all makes a lot more sense at the end. We were picturing some guy driving into the sunset somewhere in the southwest US, without a care in the world."
Based in Bushwick, White Cliffs has lived in a loft space stuffed with instruments and gear for years. He began playing piano at a young age and picked up guitar soon after. Instrumentation has long dictated his various styles and musical influences. "Playing multiple instruments makes you better at each one individually because then you learn what you need from the others."
In addition to his own music, White Cliffs is known to remix popular music's top artists. Beyond his very own cover version of The
Mamas & The Papas' "California Dreamin,'" White Cliffs has flipped songs by Fitz and the Tantrums, Herizen, Alex Clare, Louis The Child, Goldroom and more, imparting his own signature take on the original.
