Washed in an air of confident ease, @ColumbiaNights‘ new single “My Groove” is proof of the guaranteed great things that come to those who wait. A low-rpm R&B kaleidoscope of popping handclaps, airy chords and live bass, the track was composed by the D.C. area production crew-turned-band over the course of three years with the help of @THEESatisfaction.
“This tune was an early experiment,” keyboardist Hayling Price told Okayplayer, “and after we’d been building with [THEESatisfaciton members] Cat and Stas for a while, we shared a few ideas we’d been working on. Cat [aka SassyBlack] loved this and ended up writing to it during a writing retreat she was on. So the instrumental itself has evolved over the last couple years on and off, and we finally landed in an interesting place. We recorded this over time across our 3 home setups in DC.”
To spend three years on three and a half minutes may strike some as arduous, but “My Groove” benefits from Columbia Nights’ keen feel for rhythm and tone. The spacious approach that’s regularly heard on THEESatisfaction’s work is also clearly at work, seeping into small moments like its lush bridge and extended epilogue. “The theme is really about being balanced and confident in your own ‘groove,’ and staying rooted in that no matter world throws at you,” Hayling explained.
Columbia Nights plans to release a full-length LP before the year is out, but the word is “My Groove” won’t be found on that final tracklist. Rather than keep it in their personal archives, Hayling and co. chose to release it for the world to enjoy (a free download link is included on its Soundcloud page). The trio will support the ladies of THEESatisfaction at their upcoming album release show for EarthEE, their upcoming album on Subpop records. Expect to hear plenty more about that collaboration, as well as more as their own LP draws near. - WWW.OKAYPLAYER.COM
