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Cape Weather's 'Telephono' Outlines L.A. With A Laid-Back Groove

In a city associated with the physical chaos of swirling traffic, Cape Weather have crafted a hazy video that celebrates the clean, hard lines of some of Los Angeles' most famous buildings. Quick cuts to the impressive profiles of downtown theater district landmarks — Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Palace, The Broad, and the KRKD radio tower, among others — plays in one half of a split screen. The other half features lead singer Natalie Smith fulfilling many a teen-flick-inspired fantasy of cruising through the streets with her upper body sticking out of the porthole of the vehicle.

On "Telephono," Smith's deadpan performance exhibits an effortless cool, and her breezy vocals sit perfectly over bandmate Eric Jackowitz's production. The molten bass line and wind-chime guitars churn endlessly over a keyboard vamp for a laid-back groove, punctuated with rich bari sax on the chorus. Smith's repeated refrain — "We will never be here, you / You will never be near me" — echos in the gulf of detachment created between her the subject.

"Telephono" is a song for the modern age. Recorded remotely by musicians in L.A., Oakland, Nashville, New York, and Europe and compiled over the Internet, the same technology that allows for its production is also the inspiration for its creation.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.