Brooklyn-based indie quartet Hiding Places have officially announced their debut full-length album, The Secret to Good Living, arriving April 3rd via Keeled Scales. For those who prefer the tactile warmth of physical media, the vinyl release will follow on May 15th. The announcement is paired with their new single, “Waiting“. The song was written by vocalist/guitarist Nicholas Byrne, who also animated the video centered around Kingda Ka—the legendary hydraulic-launch roller coaster—alongside live footage captured by Sam and Ky. Byrne shared:
Hiding Places’ first bassist, Anthony Cozzarelli, left the band in July of 2022. I wrote the chorus the day before Anthony left the band. I recalled the slow death of my uncle, and the painful anticipation that filled the interstitial space between here and gone. I wrote the verses six months later in the freezing cold on my way home from my studio in the industrial part of our neighborhood. I sang this song to my aunt years later as she was dying. We both cried.
The band’s journey began at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where three members served as college radio DJs. Their early creative process was defined by nomadic retreats to rural Georgia, a tradition that allowed songwriters Audrey Keelin and Nicholas Byrne to hone their technical ability in isolation. Now based in New York City, the quartet—rounded out by drummer Henry Cutting and bassist/producer Michael Matsakis—has translated those humble, home-recorded beginnings into a polished, forward-thinking sound.
They caught the attention of Keeled Scales “after self-releasing a trio of excellent EPs.” The Secret to Good Living draws from a rich well of influences, blending the collage-like indie rock of Yo La Tengo with the elegant slowcore of The New Year and the analogue warmth of The Microphones.