Photo credit: Priscilla Scott
JOE WONG released his widely-praised debut album Nite Creatures via Decca Recordslast month. Today, the Los Angeles-based, Milwaukee-raised multi-instrumentalist, podcast host (The Trap Set) and composer (Russian Doll, Master of None, Ugly Delicious, The Midnight Gospel, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, etc.) shares the video for the album’s title track–a song that Vice describes as “a golden stroll through a lush, orchestral landscape of vocal harmonies, horns, and twinkles, showing off the melodic sensibilities that prove he’s long been ready to go it alone.”
Joe first met Fred when Fred was the drummer for the band Trenchmouth in the 90s and Joe was a high school kid in a math rock band named after an obscure Dunereference. He reconnected with Fred in 2013, when he was playing drums for Marnie Stern. A few years later, Fred asked Joe to help produce his first comedy special, Standup For Drummers. “It was inspiring to witness how he’d evolved from the drummer I met over twenty years ago to the singular talent he is today,” notes Joe. “When I decided to make a video for “Nite Creatures”, I thought Fred would be the ideal person to direct. Because of his sense of narrative rhythm (we’re both drummers, after all), surrealist aesthetic, and ability to make creative decisions on the fly, he proved himself the perfect director, indeed.”
“I love Joe’s album,” notes Armisen, “so when he asked me to work on the video, I was like, ‘YES!’ The song is so sonically rich, I think it makes dreamy videos in everyone’s mind. I just wanted to try to match that feeling.”
Nite Creatures is a collection of 10 baroque, ruminative, gently psychedelic songs that – in the cinematic detail of one of Wong’s film scores – explores the intersection of melancholy and joyful surrender. “Nite Creatures charts my journey through loss and redemption,” notes Joe. “Creating the album helped me emerge from a dark hole; I hope it brings people some modicum of joy during these difficult times.”
The album was co-produced by Mary Timony (Ex Hex, Helium, Wild Flag)–who makes a cameo at the end of the “Nite Creatures” video–and recorded at the secluded Gatos Trail Recording Studio in Joshua Tree, CA. It features a core ensemble: Wong on vocals, drums, bass, guitar and keyboards; Timony on lead guitar and backing vocals; and harpist Mary Lattimore. The album was mixed by famed, depth-scouring Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann and features guests Jon Natchez (War on Drugs), Craig Wedren (Shudder to Think), Anna Waronker (that dog.), Steven Drozd (Flaming Lips)and more. In addition, Wong tracked a 16-member string section, featuring members of the LA Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, in the famed Studio A at Hollywood’s Jim Henson Studios.
Nite Creatures can be purchased via joewong.bigcartel.com and streamed HERE.
PRAISE FOR ‘NITE CREATURES’
“a sharply produced collection of deeply personal psych-pop songs that feel like the perfect soundtrack for a 70s pool party or desert sunset.” – Noisey
“Joe Wong, known for scoring the Netflix series ‘Russian Doll’ and ‘Master of None.’ Here, he’s making songs celebrating the life of his father with guitarist Mary Timony” – NPR Music
“a collection of songs that utilize Wong’s skills as a composer to create a world in which his deeply personal lyrics reveal an intersection of joy and introspective melancholy.” – Uproxx
“Joe Wong Tackles Existential Dread on His Rapturous Debut Album, ‘Nite Creatures’” – American Songwriter
“The adventurous creative spirit Wong brings to his TV and film scores can be felt throughout his debut solo album, ‘Nite Creatures,’ a collection that unapologetically recalls the kind of late-’60s psych-pop that bands like Love, Pink Floyd, and the Zombies circa Odessey and Oracle specialized in.” – Modern Drummer
“while Joe Wong’s melodies go down like sweet strawberry wine, there’s a very personal vulnerability to the lyrics underneath the ecstatic psychedelia on this multi-instrumentalist’s solo debut… Fans of Sgt. Pepper’s, Pet Sounds, and Forever Changes take note—here’s one record, at least, that does it like they used to.” – AV Club
“composer and musician Joe Wong… really knocks it out of the cosmos with all of his work…” – Gizmodo
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