notes and scratches

Notes & Scratches “Grace Park” – newest EP from a very friendly Chicago band

Grace Notes is Notes & Scratches newest release with four sad songs about departures. Speaking of departures, the band actually departs from its usual sound - the songs don't have a "celebratory feel", which is the band's trademark. For Grace Notes, they handpicked four songs which are melancholic, pining, and lonely. The album takes its time, like footsteps dragging where they don't want to go, with trumpets and viola on the background to set the mood. For sure, it's an album to listen to on difficult goodbyes. More about the band and an interview with Joshua Dumas (vocalist) after the jump.

Notes and Scratches: To the Other Side

Notes and Scratches is a pop (maybe even pop-rock) band from Chicago. They've been together since 2005 and to date released one other album entitled "Uh-Oh" (which is also licensed under CC and available for free download here). Now, after two years and two line-up changes, Notes and Scratches is ready to present their second record, "To the Other Side". Joshua Dumas, the principal songwriter, described this collections of pop songs as “the spaces between things: between past and present, remembering and forgetting, forever and never again.” He adds “this recording is an attempt to make sad songs feel celebratory. Regret and hindsight are often more complicated than a series of minor chords can reveal. I am hopeful these songs reflect some of that depth.”