Drummer/multi-instrumentalist Jake Langknecht has had a creatively busy and fruitful 2019.
Both of the Cincinnati Indie Rock bands he's in have released great recording projects this year. The Indie/Psych trio Pop Empire released its first full-length album in five years, Novena, and did some touring (including dates in New York City) in support of it in September. Before that, Strobobean — which Langknecht formed last year with Pop Empire bandmate Katrina Eresman (later enlisting Brianna Kelly of Soften and other local projects) — released its debut EP, which was followed by a split single with Cleveland band Forager over the summer.
In between the band activity, Langknecht was working on music on his own and seeking an outlet to showcase his own songwriting. As he grew more confident in his solo writing and recording capabilities, he decided to put a name on it — Sky Hank — and release the music publicly.
Today Langknecht is sharing with CityBeat readers "Dandelion," one of two tracks on his official introductory Sky Hank single (he posted a three-song EP of demos last year).
An evocative slice of Dream Pop, the atmospheric "Dandelion" drifts atop fluid, hypnotic ebb-and-flow dynamics that are distantly reminiscent of classic "Slowcore" acts like Low and Red House Painters. Langknecht plays everything on the track — drums, bass, guitars and keys — outside of a guitar assist from Eresman. (His other Pop Empire bandmate, Henry Wilson, mastered the tracks.)
Lyrically there's a kind of romantic post-Apocalyptic theme: "Digging tubers, hunting hogs with the dogs/We'll miss our comforts, but we'll survive/Or try." Langknecht says the song is "about projecting love and awe through the myriad terrors of the world."
Sky Hank is currently a studio project only, but Langknecht says he hopes to put a band together to play shows at some point.
Get more Sky Hank music at skyhank.bandcamp.com.
