Debut Album Are U Down? Released This Friday
Ahead of this Friday’s release of his debut album, Are U Down?, Spencer. has shared a third and final single ‘No Direction’ today. A heart-on-its-sleeve love song, its official video reunites Spencer. with director Danica Arias Kleinknecht (also behind the visuals for his 2019 single ‘Automatic’). “We shot the video in Jersey one night in the town where Danica’s from,” Spencer. explains. “We started shooting at 5pm and shot all night in the dark. I love how this one came together. It’s psychedelic without any visual effects and that’s the magic of working with Danica”
‘No Direction’
‘No Direction’ and previous singles ‘MyLuv’ and ‘Lonely As I Ever Was’ feature on Are U Down?, the debut full-length album from New York musician and producer Spencer Miles Abraham Allen, the brains behind Spencer. Written, recorded and produced by Spencer. during the pandemic, its 11 songs blend R&B, hip-hop, funk, indie, pop, jazz and soul to create a sound that feels both analogue and digital, honouring the past whilst staying firmly in the present. Featuring 4AD labelmate Becky and the Birds (vocals on ‘After The Show’), Luke Diamond (guitars) and Jake Aron (some additional production), Spencer. has integrated neo-soul vocal fireworks, hip-hop flow and pop ambition into an album steeped in all the feels of a New York summer.
Born and raised in Rochester, NY, to chemist parents who presciently gifted him the middle name Miles (for Miles Davis), a career in music beckoned from an early age with 4-year-old Spencer. lobbying his Jamaican mother and British father for trumpet lessons in tribute to his namesake. Rochester’s rich and underappreciated creative scene nurtured his musical skills, and he won a place on a summer jazz programme at the city’s prestigious Eastman School of Music in his teens. A self-taught producer who has always recorded in isolation, he started self-releasing home recordings in 2018, and eventually dropped out of college when his EP Want U Back became a word-of-mouth hit. Now transplanted to the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bed Stuy, Spencer. is a main player in a tightknit and supportive creative community that also boasts Clairo, Snail Mail, Claud, Advisry, Binki, Cautious Clay and Triathlon amongst its burgeoning talent.
Are U Down? is released digitally on 10 September 2021. Physical formats will follow in 2022. Head HERE for further information.
SPENCER. ONLINE
Soundcloud: @spencermus
Instagram: @spencer.period
Facebook: @endmiles
Twitter: @spencerperiod
