Find out what’s really ‘Underneath’.
When the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced the venue for their album launch show to reschedule all gigs, Code Orange had two choices: cancel it altogether, or play it behind closed doors.
They chose the second one, and livestreamed it all globally via Twitch.
It’s a remarkable, intense set, and you can watch it here:
The band’s new album ‘Underneath’ is out now via Roadrunner Records.
We caught up with Jami and Reba recently to discuss how it all came together.
Here’s a sample:
For the both of you, what’s the moment that defines what this record is?
Reba: “We’ve worked really hard to make sure that every single song fills every moment. It’s like a movie. The intention is to not have gaps. So when I think of the record as a whole, I have a different feeling and a different mindset dependant on whatever mood I’m in at that point. Each moment is important and integral. So depending on how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking about is how I relate to different songs and moments. It’s a whole journey. It would be hard to pick something specific.”
Well while you’re saying that, ‘Forever’ felt like a horror movie when you listened to it as a whole. It was frantic and fierce from beginning to end, whereas ‘Underneath’ feels much more considered…
Jami: “It’s more psychological. It’s more ethereal. It’s deeper. It’s still very dark though. We had to put in a lot more hours because of that. We had to do a lot more surgery on it to make those things work and make things make sense.”
What’s it like being in that space, working so meticulously on every intricacy? What effect does it have on you?
Jami: “We recorded the record twice pretty much. We recorded some very specific demos that took a long time to do, and we mixed them ourselves. From the headphone stuff we like to do to the audio approach of making each song multi-dimensional so it felt like it was also visual, it took a very very very long time.”
Reba: “The experience just made us dig deeper. That was the whole goal. We had the chance to actually take that kind of time. It was exhausting but it was also inspiring to see every person doing that in their own way. We all just bounced off each other and really learned how to communicate and create something like this. It was an extreme digging process to reach all of those places. This is what we wanted to be doing though.”
Read the whole interview here.