WL//WH New Music: WHIMSICAL ready to unveils its latest shoegaze/dream pop wonder “Take All of Me” for Bandcamp Day on October 2nd!

Whimsical Single Release for Oct. 2 Bandcamp Day
Overcoming the challenges of recording with kids at home and COVID, Whimsical offers its latest shoegaze/dream pop masterpiece with “Take All of Me.” By Deborah Sexton

Bandcamp Day, where the website gives all the proceeds from sales to the artists, has been a godsend to many musicians who have had their live performing revenue streams cut off due to COVID. It also has resulted in many bands timing their new releases to come out on that day.

As is the case with Whimsical, a shoegaze/dream pop duo from Indiana and Florida, who will be offering their latest release on the next Bandcamp Day, Friday, Oct. 2 entitled “Take All Of Me.” This single is the first new music to come out since the November 2019 album “Bright Smiles & Broken Hearts”, which features nine original songs.

According to Krissy Vanderwoude, also a member of The Churchhill Garden, who contributes vocals, melody and lyrics, “Take All of Me” explores a familiar theme.

“This song is about reaching a point where you’re ready to open your heart after keeping it closed off for a long time,” she says. “It’s about the cautious optimism that comes with wanting to love again after carrying the weight of a broken heart.”

Neil Burkdoll, also a member of Loveblind, who writes the songs, plays all the instruments, records and engineers Whimsical’s music, explains how “Take All Of Me” was born.

“The idea came while playing my bass into a preset on my Headrush Gigboard. My intent was to write a bass line that sounded like early Jane’s Addiction, but now I think it sounds more like Blink 182. I recorded it quickly to a drum beat and made the verse section that morning. There are no guitars on the verse so it was easy to program a drum beat, record the bass and add some synths over it. It sat on my computer for a few weeks until I finished it in March,” he says.

Both band members have school-age children who are now home all day, and this has made writing and recording music more challenging.

“Krissy uses the family computer to record, and it’s located in the central hub of her house. With her family home nonstop since March, she has little quiet time to record her vocals,” Neil shares. “I have an office to record in, but my kids are always home, and I rarely get any time alone until they go to bed.”

Despite the challenges, Burkdoll reveals that other songs are in the works with a tentative goal to have a six-song EP ready for an early 2021 release. It will be released in digital format only, but over time, there are plans for a second EP and then both may be pressed together to vinyl and CD down the road.

A version of “Take All of Me” has been remixed by Paul Baker of Static Daydream, a noise-pop project based in Fredericksburg, Va. and that will come out at the same time.

“His take on the song is more of an `80s dance mix that I think works really well,” says Burkdoll.

The new single will premiere October 1 on KEXP, a nonprofit station in Seattle, during John Richards’ “John In The Morning” show, and you can also expect to hear it on Vanderwould’s bi-weekly Wednesday night DKFM show “Drowned In A Sea of Sound.”

In addition to Bandcamp, it will be available on all streaming services including Spotify, Apple, Pandora, iTunes, Play Music, Deezer, and others. Check out this teaser video while you are waiting for the official release: YouTube:

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