Dead Gaze

R. Cole Furlow leads the Mississippi lo-fi project Dead Gaze, whose sound mixes gritty textures with bright pop hooks. Following the band’s debut cassette End of Days, Why Not You on Mirror Universe in 2010, Dead Gaze issued a split release with Gray Things via Clan Destine. That same year the group put out a two-song 7" on Fire Talk Records, shifting away from its initial Flaming Lips-inspired approach toward chillwave textures built around drum machines and synthesizers. Furlow continued issuing material at a steady clip, including the Group Tightener EP in 2010 and the 2011 single Le Station Radar, which featured drumming by James Alexander Warren, before assembling a full band for live performances. In 2013 the FatCat-affiliated imprint Palmist compiled twelve tracks drawn from prior releases alongside several new pieces and issued the collection under the title Dead Gaze. For his first proper studio album Furlow left his home setup and booked time at Sweet Tea studio in Oxford, Mississippi, where vintage gear and a spacious room allowed the Dead Gaze sound to grow. FatCat released the resulting Brain Holiday in late 2013. Afterward Furlow constructed a new home studio to develop the larger sonic palette heard on that album, which led to the follow-up Easy Travels, issued by Brooklyn’s Ernest Jenning Record Co. in summer 2016.