The Orange Peels

The Orange Peels, established torchbearers of American indie pop, produce collections of sunny delights every few years through their signature blend of organic West Coast warmth, lush vocal harmonies, jangling guitars, and classic songcraft. Leader Allen Clapp has kept an unwavering emphasis on timeless melodies and emotional payoff, even while the band's sonic palette shifted gradually through small, nuanced adjustments. Their extended run opened with the direct guitar pop of Square before they wove in touches of chamber pop, soft rock, and synth-heavy prog. With 2021's Celebrate the Moments of Your Life they integrated these threads with assurance, layering in darker real-life themes within the lyrics.

Originally performing as Allen Clapp & His Orchestra with bassist Jill Pries, lead guitarist Larry Winther (previously of the Mummies), and ex-Cerebral Corps drummer Bob Vickers, the ensemble issued early singles on Elefant and Four Letter Words before delivering their debut full-length, One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain, on Bus Stop in 1994. Following the name change to the Orange Peels, the quartet returned in 1997 with Square on Minty Fresh.

More than two years went into crafting the follow-up, So Far, amid repeated personnel shifts. John Moremen, who had played with Jad Fair, first replaced Vickers on drums; Winther then departed, prompting Vickers to rejoin on guitar. After Clapp shared a demo of the new song "Don't Walk Away, Won't You Stay" (later retitled "You're So Clever" on the album), Winther returned. The resulting quintet completed the record, which SpinART issued in February 2001. Clapp subsequently focused on solo work, releasing the LP Available Light on March Records and the EP Whenever We're Together on Bus Stop, both in 2002.

The Orange Peels resurfaced in 2005 on Parasol with Circling the Sun, recorded by a refreshed lineup that retained the Clapp-Pries core while adding guitarist-keyboardist Oed Ronne (formerly of Ocean Blue) and three drummers—Peter Anderson, Bryan Hanna, and Bob Vickers—each contributing to select tracks. Their next release, 2010's 2020, brought back guitarist John Moremen and featured only Vickers on drums. Clapp next issued his solo album Mixed Greens in 2012 on his own Mystery Lawn imprint. He rejoined the Orange Peels after Pries recruited Moremen and new drummer Gabriel Coan to the home studio without his prior knowledge. Once included, Clapp arrived without completed songs, rendering the sessions more collaborative than earlier efforts. Sun Moon appeared in spring 2013 via Mystery Lawn and Minty Fresh.

Later that year Clapp and Pries survived a serious car accident that nearly ended the band's run. Drawing from that experience, the Orange Peels soon returned to the studio. Most of the next album was tracked in Clapp's home studio across five days, with other members contributing songwriting and arrangement ideas; one track was captured after Clapp and Pries relocated to the Santa Cruz Mountains and constructed a studio there. The resulting 2015 release, Begin the Begone, offered another refined example of adult-oriented indie pop, albeit with a somewhat darker tone. That year the band toured with Matthew Sweet, whose admiration for Moremen's guitar work later led to hiring him.

With Moremen occupied by his new role and Coan having moved to Philadelphia, Clapp wrote the subsequent album during the stormy West Coast winter of 2016-2017, incorporating input from Pries. Once prepared, the Orange Peels convened at Clapp's Mystery Lawn studio and, aided by producer Bryan Hanna (who had previously worked on Square and Circling the Sun), finished their seventh album, Trespassing. At once a quintessential Orange Peels record and a more experimental effort that drew on the synth-heavy approach Clapp explored on his 2017 solo EP Six Seasons, it was released by Minty Fresh in April 2018. Over the following years the group prepared a deluxe reissue of Square—issued by Minty Fresh in June 2020—that paired the original studio versions with a complete set of demos. Simultaneously they began tracking a new album without guitarist Moremen, who exited in 2019. Clapp, Pries, and Coan navigated family losses, wildfires that threatened their home studio, and quarantine restrictions to create a record that united the various strands they had previously explored, from indie pop to orchestral pop to synth prog, while revealing their emotions directly. The double album Celebrate the Moments of Your Life, issued in mid-2021, includes string arrangements by Mike Brown and cover art by collagist Nereida Dusten.