“Passing Through” Delivers A Dreamy Electropop-Rock Mix

Clockwise from top left, Bubble Pod members Eric Hastings, Brian Knoth, Nate Cronin and K-Star 5000 join forces on “Passing Through.” (Photo courtesy of Brian Knoth)

A new, Providence-based studio music collective has released its debut album, and the dreamy tunes will take you back to another era.

Bubble Pod is a new collective consisting of four local musicians, including Rhode Island-based Brian Knoth, Nate Cronin and Eric Hastings and Boston-based Kerry Schneider, a.k.a. K-Star 5000. The group released their debut album, a four-track EP titled “Passing Through,” on Sept. 29.

The group is the brainchild of Knoth, a local songwriter and composer who also teaches creative media in the Department of Communication at Rhode Island College. The album began with musical sketches he’d been working on over time.

“I’ve been composing music in various forms for a number of years. I’ve done some songwriting in the past and wanted to do more. It’s becoming something that I’m more interested in now,” he says.

With the help of grants from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and Rhode Island College, Knoth and the others worked collaboratively to turn the sketches into fully finished tracks. Hastings contributed percussion, while Cronin played keyboards and Schneider improvised vocals. It’s her high-pitched, almost haunting voice that gives the album its otherworldly sound.

The work was accomplished collaboratively over a period of weeks. The final tracks were recorded at Knoth’s home studio, the Grapevine — Hastings’ home studio in Providence — and Big Nice Studio in Lincoln and mixed at Big Nice Studio.

“There was never a time when all of us were together in the same space,” Knoth says.

The album’s dreamy, electropop feel will be familiar to listeners who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, when the genre influenced everything from punk rock to club music. Knoth acknowledges the album was influenced by the sounds of the era.

“For me, it was a lot of experimentation with sound and wanting to combine process sounds and electronic and computer-driven sounds with more organic sounds. And putting those things together is a challenge to make them blend, but I think it was a fun challenge,” he says.

While the group has no plans to promote the album through shows, listeners can catch Knoth, Hastings and Cronin as part of the Daybreaks, where they cover blues, rock, soul and jazz music from throughout the decades. The band will perform at the Blue Room in Pawtuxet Village on Friday, Oct. 27, from 6 to 9 p.m.

Knoth, who lives in Providence, says it remains to be seen whether Bubble Pod will reunite for a second album.

“Where it goes from here, I don’t know. I’m already starting to experiment with a few new song ideas,” he says.

The album is available to listen on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Amazon and Deezer.

(Album art courtesy of Brian Knoth)

RELATED ARTICLES

Myrtle Fulfills a Live Music, Vintage Shopping and Neighborhood Bar Niche in East Providence

Where to See Live Music in Rhode Island This Summer

The New In Your Ear is Way More Than a Record Store