Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Eva Walker, host of Early on KEXP, is "Aurora Borealis (feat. Elizabeth Fraser)" by The Veldt, a 2023 single on 5BC Records.
Back in August, we shared a different track from soul-gaze siblings The Veldt, a duo formed in 1986 by identical twins Daniel and Danny Chavis. Like that previous Song of the Day, this one comes from their "lost" LP, which was recorded in 1989 with the Cocteau Twins‘ Robin Guthrie as producer, but ended up getting shelved when the band were dropped by their label. The track features guest vocals from Guthrie's bandmate, the iconic Elizabeth Fraser, singing back-up towards the end of the song.
In a press statement, Danny Chavis shares, “This song was written in 1986 and was included in the first batch of songs we demoed under the name VELDT. Having heard Treasure by Cocteau Twins, this song was inspired by that very album and RUN DMC’s Sucker MC’s around the same time that year.” He continues, “This song is about my brother’s love for his newborn daughter, written out of high school and dug out around the time the band had started to get noticed. We had written so many, but it was one of the newest pieces that we had begun experimenting. This would signal our departure from being a band that made people dance to a band that made people confused.”
As of last week, the album — titled Illuminated 1989 — is finally available on vinyl, CD, cassette and digitally via Portland-based Little Cloud Records and 5BC Records. It was re-mastered by Guthrie earlier this year.
