The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues
Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

Smoke Season’s Genre Hopping Pop

Smoke Seasons Genre Hopping Pop
courtesy photo

Are you a pop music fan looking for a band with a bigger message than your average radio offering? Meet Smoke Season, a Los-Angeles based indie-pop duo that offers more than just catchy melodies. Gabrielle Wortman and Jason Rosen are musicians who use their work to advocate for important social issues. In 2016, they released an ambitious trilogy of music videos that shared characters and story lines. Each video tackled difficult subject matters including LGBTQ bullying and suicide, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and immigration reform. The duo’s passion for political activism expands past their art: they also flew to Standing Rock North Dakota to support DAPL protests. For Smoke Season, standing for social change is not just an occasional gesture; it’s an essential part of their music and identity as a band.
As musicians, Wortman and Rosen draw from a wide variety of influences, and their body of work often eschews traditional genre lines. The duo’s work recalls such diverse influences as Fleetwood Mac, Grimes, Tame Impala, and Purity Ring. Smoke Season songs often feature percussive electronics with psychedelic flourishes, all the while anchored by Wortman’s soulful, dynamic vocal performance.
The band’s many contradictions are apparent on their recent single “Good Days”. The song sounds, on the surface, like a bright summery track, but the lyrics’ actual meaning goes deeper. The band said, “‘Good Days’ is a song about nostalgia. We wanted to capture the bittersweet feeling of remembering times that shaped you into who you are today. Those events seem to slip by as they’re happening, but their importance becomes so clear in retrospect. To us, this is the definition of soul-shaping.”
Currently, the two musicians are busy writing new music, recording, and touring across the country. For Wortman and Rosen, live concerts are a rewarding way to share their creations with passionate audiences around the country. “We’re super excited for this tour since we’ll be bringing a full set of brand new music,” they said. “We’ve been writing for a full year and will finally be able to experience the new material live with our fans.”
Smoke Season will be performing at Kilby Court along with Armors and Patternist on Saturday, Sept. 9. The show starts at 7:00 pm, and tickets are $10.

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

The Daily Utah Chronicle welcomes comments from our community. However, the Daily Utah Chronicle reserves the right to accept or deny user comments. A comment may be denied or removed if any of its content meets one or more of the following criteria: obscenity, profanity, racism, sexism, or hateful content; threats or encouragement of violent or illegal behavior; excessively long, off-topic or repetitive content; the use of threatening language or personal attacks against Chronicle members; posts violating copyright or trademark law; and advertisement or promotion of products, services, entities or individuals. Users who habitually post comments that must be removed may be blocked from commenting. In the case of duplicate or near-identical comments by the same user, only the first submission will be accepted. This includes comments posted across multiple articles. You can read more about our comment policy at https://dailyutahchronicle.com/comment-faqs/.
All The Daily Utah Chronicle Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *