Vehlinggo is proud to premiere Pleasure Curses’ hauntingly gorgeous new single, “Under the Moonlight,” which features the ethereal guest pipes of Christen Cappello.
The Portland, Oregon/Washington, DC-based synthpop duo of Jahn Alexander Teetsov and Evan Grice are part of the DC-based Prince George Records family with the likes of equally talented Furniteur.
Vehlinggo readers might also recognize Pleasure Curses from the Top 15 EPs of 2015 list or other praise.
Now listen to the extraordinary new cut they have to offer:
The Story Behind ‘Moonlight’
Teetsov and Grice began working on “Moonlight” about a year ago, according to Teetsov. The instrumental part went through a series of different versions and arrangements revolving around those synth chords and the beat, he said.
Pleasure Curses eventually reached out to a friend named Christen Cappello, whom they had originally met at a show they played in Brooklyn. A few years ago the duo remixed a song for her Club Girls project.
In reaching out, the initial intention was for Cappello to do some harmonies and sing at the bridge, but Cappello says she misunderstood the initial email.
“I thought I was actually invited to sing on the second verse,” she said. “This miscommunication ended up being a happy accident in the end.”
Teetsov agrees.
“… She wrote this great verse as a reflection to what I had already written,” he said, “and it breathed some new thematic dynamics to the song from a female perspective.”
“We were both in transitional phases, and I think the feeling of being drawn to someone and finding it hard to let go were both fresh in our minds,” he added.
Teetsov and Grice were living in DC at the time and Cappello ended up taking a train down from New York to track vocals. Teetsov said they spent a 24-hour stretch recording her vocals, along with shooting photos and video footage of them singing to the song in his basement.
What’s the song about? Teetsov has a quip:
“As a joke, my dad once told me when I was a little kid that the moon appears to follow you when you do bad things, because it has a little propeller attached to it.”
