Promenade Premieres New Track Featuring Kam Franklin
Photo: Jason Smith
I keep telling my friends in other cities that Houston has an intense mix of electronic music talent coalescing at the moment. Then they come to visit and realize that the electronic scene here is on a whole other level from other places.
One of the best factors in the Houston music scene are collaborations between artists. When John Allen Stephens from New York City Queens and Get A Life told me he had an electro pop side project called Promenade, it made sense. Over the years, I’ve realized that creative people usually can’t be bottled into just one project, and I think we all know that the producer and engineer has a pretty good ear for music as well as music making. However, I should’ve known that Promenade would be better than most electro pop acts going nowadays. While I could go on and on about their soon to be released EP, I think once you check out this single alone, you’ll be forced to grab that EP to see what else the duo is capable of doing.
Originally started as just a fun project, Stephens and Andres Soler quickly realized that they had a strong chemistry together. What would transpire is some feverish songwriting and recording in 2024, leading us to where we are today, with the track, “An Easy Explanation.”
The single, which features The Suffers’ Kam Franklin on vocals, is an exploration in dance pop. The way that Stephens’ sweet vocal hooks trade verses with Franklin is one of pure magic. While most fans might be used to Franklin belting out notes to fill a festival-sized area, here she’s light on the gas while still retaining that umph we’ve all come to know and love. The song has hints of eighties synth-heavy notes, while Stephens masterfully drops these soft-voiced vocals that often double and get effects placed on them. There’s a super hook-heavy new wave sounding guitar that comes in before Franklin drops her smoky vocals that makes the song have a true pop hit feel from start to finish. The track, available only here, will be a part of the band’s upcoming EP release.
If you like what you hear, then you can get your own copy of the song, alongside others, when Promenade holds an EP release party at Fitzgerald’s on Friday July 31st. The downstairs show will also feature a set from the band, as well as a return to playing live set from Houston’s Bang Bangz prior. Josiah Gabriel will open things up as only he can on the all-ages show with doors at 8:00 and tickets for a measly $5.00.
