MPress Records has just released “Superball”, the third track (accompanied by a live studio version video) by A Fragile Tomorrow ahead of the highly anticipated release of their new album, It’s Better That Way (out July 15). It’s been three years since AFT’s last album, the critically acclaimed Generation Loss – well worth the wait, as AFT has reached a pinnacle with It’s Better That Way. The track and live video premiered in Ghetto Blaster.
Sean Kelly says of the song: “This was a song that musically was 100% written by Brendan (Kelly), and I added melody and lyrics. It’s named after a pedal, which is what accomplishes the main progression of the song. Lyrically it’s quite honestly about a period of time that I felt like I needed a break from the band and just my disillusionment with pursuing music. There’s a line in the chorus that says, ‘I lost my place, can’t find the one.’ This has a double meaning because it addresses me feeling like I was losing my connection to music.”
Directed and produced by Ted Comerford, and featuring AFT and Peter Holsapple on harmonica & synth, the video was filmed at Dreamland Recording in West Hurley, New York. The live video for “Superball” is a riveting, intimate view of a “fly on the wall” perspective of the band’s creative dynamics. The music (written by Brendan Kelly) pays tribute to his Superball effects pedal, and layers the song with an ultra cool tone which punctuates an unforgettable cascading riff that incorporates (as the Stones say) the “ancient art of weaving” into its rock-heavy foundation.
It’s Better That Way is a sonic melting pot, combining many of the band’s musical interests and diving into new territory as well. From Krautrock-psychedelia to indie rock swagger, to Crowded House-esque pop songcraft, to British folk and hip-hop-influenced sampling, the album showcases the diversity of the band under the “art rock” banner, a term that AFT has adopted in recent years that has allowed them the freedom to explore outside of the confines of genre.
Produced by the band, with additional production by Peter Holsapple (dB’s, R.E.M., Hootie and the Blowfish, Continental Drifters), and mastered by Grammy-winning mastering engineer Alan Silverman, It’s Better That Way is their third album for MPress Records, following their Independent Music Award-winning label debut Make Me Over in 2014, and 2019’s Generation Loss. A Fragile Tomorrow consists of brothers Sean Kelly (singer/songwriter/guitarist) and Brendan Kelly (guitar/songwriter/pedal master), Shaun Rhoades (bass), and Josh Kean (drums). Guest appearances include Peter Holsapple (organ, synth, harmonica, harmonium, banjo) and Vicki Peterson (The Bangles).
