Musicians strive in the digital age to create a visual connection to their work. Many of them know they need an overarching theme to connect back to in order to stand out among the multitude of artists appearing everyday. The idea of a world building in music is extremely important, and it can be seen executed expertly by Peter Sagar, also known as HOMESHAKE.
Under this moniker, Sagar makes constantly shifting music that run the gamut from minimalist indie rock jams to diffuse synth-pop pieces. They are tied together by the recurring themes of Sagar's complex guitar chords, bass lines and mysterious downtrodden lyrics. With every new album, HOMESHAKE continues to morph into something it wasn't before.
The artwork created for these records are all done by artist Salina Ladha, who also happens to be his girlfriend. Sagar has said their collaboration will be a feature of every HOMESHAKE record, and her art is integral to the shape the records take. They often evoke images that are then made concrete by the sounds and lyrics of the album itself, acting as a primer and visual representation of the album.
With Sagar's first release under the name, THE HOMESHAKE TAPE, Ladha's art depicts strange figures and a mountain landscape on a white background, suggesting barrenness. Indeed, this short record gives the feeling of being barren, with stories of men who kill their dinner bare-handed in the frozen wilderness, blizzards, loneliness in an icy city, and other tales of cold sadness. Cold weather is a recurring theme in HOMESHAKE songs, attributed by Sagar to his growing up in Edmonton, one of the coldest cities on earth in the winter.
On last year's Midnight Snack, the artwork depicting a warm home filled with comforting food, but also a mysterious figure in the shadow, set up the longing for comfort and the paranoia of the songs on the record.
Sagar is still wanting to escape the lingering cold outside on songs like the title track and "Heat", while steal dealing with insecurity and paranoia over the state of his relationship on songs like "He's Heating Up" or "Under the Sheets". In the end, things work out for HOMESHAKE- he gets his midnight snack, and says "Goodnight" to a hard, cold, stressful day.
While his new album, Fresh Air, does not come out until February, the album already has all the trappings of his other albums, in terms of strength of aesthetics.
The bright, simple, and creative crayon artwork for Ladha sets up what has been described as a lighter and more upbeat HOMESHAKE record, and this is apparent from the first single, "Call Me Up". The track pairs Peter's higher register vocals with 90s R&B synths to tell a sweet story of the beauty of phone calls.
While we do not know the sound of the rest of the record, I feel confident in saying if it is anything like the last few albums Sagar has served up, we are in for a breath of fresh air.
