"THERE'S NO FUTURE DEFINED..." - BIO
Spirits of Leo is an ethereal post-punk band based in Brooklyn, NY. Beginning as the recording project of Ryan Santos Phillips, Spirits grew into a cathartic live act with the release of Equinox in 2018. Delivering immersive and intimate vocals, swirling guitars and driving rhythms, Spirits of Leo is heavily inspired by early 4AD artists and late 70’s post-punk. Artists such as The Chameleons, The Cure and Cocteau Twins serve as primary influences for the band, and Spirits of Leo are frequently compared to contemporary artists such as Drab Majesty, Soft Kill, and Wild Nothing.
MEMBERS
Ryan Santos Phillips (he/him) – lead vocals, guitar
Anthony Taboada (they/them) – guitar, backing vocals
Nick DiPillo (he/him) – bass guitar, synth
Scott Dence (he/him) – drums
DISCOGRAPHY
- Gossamer Blue (2022, LP)
- Equinox (2018, Double-LP)
- Yearning (2015, EP)
- Rainy Day (2014, EP)
- Anastasia (2013, LP)
- Spirits of Leo (2012, EP)
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thereal post-punk act Spirits of Leo, are a band heavily inspired by early 4AD artists and late 70’s post-punk. With throwbacks to such artists like The Chameleons, The Cure, and Cocteau Twins, the Brooklyn-based outfit serves as the recording project of Ryan Santos Phillips.
Delivering immersive, intimate vocals, swirling guitars, and driving rhythms, their lush harmonies pull the listener into a nostalgic haze with Patience (A La Carte Records), a gentle, wistful number about steadfast perseverance while enduring arduous trials and tribulations. Its emotional, moody feel puts the listener in a space of hope and optimism, even when the chips are down.
“Patience” is a song about being driven in spite of exhaustion, doubt, and dismissal. My hope is that it resonates with anyone who has ever felt invisible,” says Phillips.
The video (directed and edited by Florian Tinschert with cinematography by Patrick Ho), is a quiet meditation; depicting a solitary walk around various locations in Brooklyn, the Williamsburg Bridge, and Manhattan. The night setting intimates that it is always darkest before dawn; to know something is right around the corner – good or bad. It is very much of the pandemic era; the masked figure paradoxically appears as if floating through an abandoned city, encountering the occasional sinister spirit. It is a beautiful metaphor for this era of collective solitude, aimlessness in an uncertain time, the perpetual surreality of life in lockdown, and wondering where it all leads.
“Spirits of Leo started in December 2012, when I was a 19-year-old attending junior college,” says Phillips. “At that time, it felt as if nobody in my immediate vicinity seemed interested in making the kind of music I was desperate to make. I began recording my own tracks one layer at a time, experimenting with various effects and borrowing a friend’s microphone, until the songs felt finished.”
With its title referencing the biblical world without sin, Brooklyn’s Spirits of Leo’s new track “Eden” (streaming below) creates a dreampop impression of that earthly temptation garden. Having relocated to Brooklyn from California, the band’s creative force Ryan Santos Phillips weaves in a nod to Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” as well. However, much like the human struggles in that literary tale, the prevailing focus here is of a paradise lost. Built around a driving bass line, melodic guitar riffs and clearly defined percussion, the vocals cascade in layers that create an atmospheric motion. “I wonder where we’re going again” serves as the songs catchiest repeated lyrical refrain providing a glimmer of hope for another chance at paradise. Included on the full-length album “Equinox,” the band will play its release show on March 22 at Tender Trap, with the record available everywhere on the 23rd.
Legacy has a unmistakably retro feel, with sweeping guitar lines and gorgeous vocals reminiscent of 80s icons including The Smiths and The Cure. Anyone with even the slightest feelings of nostalgia and love for old school indie will be captivated by this track from the second it kicks in.
If Spirits of Leo aren’t on your radar, it’s time to fix that. They’re making music with an otherworldly ambiance. The floating melodies on Legacy create an immersive and ethereal tone, delivering some of the best alternative indie sounds I’ve heard coming out of the US in a good while.
Legacy is taken from the bands forthcoming LP Equinox. Recorded on both coasts and written over the course of four years. Equinox is a marked departure from the band’s previous discography, exploring darker, more cultivated themes and textures. The LP is set to be released on March 23rd, 2018 through Lux Perpetua. Keep an eye out for that one.
New York post-punk/shoegazers SPIRITS OF LEO have released “Gossamer Blue”, their new full-length album following their latest single “Asylum”. Somber, spectral and energetic, “Gossamer Blue” demonstrates the band’s unique blend of dreamy shoegaze and ethereal post-punk set against a backdrop of wintery atmospherics. Today, we’re giving it a closer look through the band’s special track by track commentary below.
With chorused textures and pounding rhythms, the eight titles that make up “Gossamer Blue” meld intricate guitar lines with ethereal vocal chants to echo the moods of early 4AD and Fiction Records-era goth.
Today is the best day of your life because post-punk Gods, Spirits of Leo have just released this incredible post-punk meets shoegaze track “Eden.”
Founded by singer Ryan Santos Phillips in Santa Rosa, CA (but living out their best life in our city — Brooklyn), Spirits of Leo delivers ethereal soundscapes with driving intensity. You can definitely hear influences The Cure, The Chameleons and Red House Painters, and some Jesus and Mary Chain. Written and recorded by Phillips over the course of four years, Equinox is a marked departure from the band’s previous discography, exploring darker, more cultivated themes and textures.
“Spirits of Leo started in December 2012, when I was a 19-year-old attending junior college. At that time, it felt as if nobody in my immediate vicinity seemed interested in making the kind of music I was desperate to make. I’d always loved the sounds of the New Wave era, having grown up on those kinds of records. I began recording my own tracks one layer at a time, experimenting with various effects and borrowing a friend’s microphone, until the songs felt finished, into what would become the first self-titled EP. Much of the subject matter at that time centered on anxieties, nightmares, isolation, and feelings of helplessness.”
The track “Eden” was written and recorded in one, overnight sitting, no doubt while I was off in Bushwick getting drunk somewhere with my dog. Goes to show you what different Brooklynites are capable of doing (or not, in my case).
“It was a response to a major breach of trust and dealing with that pain, which felt immovable at the time. The lyrics deal with attachment, infidelity, trust, and a world capsized.”
Equinox is coming out March 23rd, 2018 through Lux Perpetua.
“Until last year, Equinox was only a concept, a collection of demos dating back to late 2013. The unfinished album had been weighing on me for years until finally, I decided to fully construct the album, filling-in missing pieces, re-writing, re-recording guitar parts, re-recording vocals, polishing, and mixing. Like the rest of the album, both songs were self-recorded on my two-input audio interface, partially in my parents’ home in Northern California and in my room in Brooklyn (apart from the drums, which were later recorded in a professional studio).”
“The twangy guitars and snare-heavy intro of ‘Legacy’ gave me serious 80s feels! The reverb-heavy post-punk tune is arguably Spirits of Leo‘s strongest work to date. The Brooklyn-based band will release the song on their forthcoming album ‘Equinox‘ (out March 23). Fingers crossed the rest of the 16 track collection is as strong as this.”