Control

"Control" out today! Super happy to be releasing as Bandcamp donates 100% of their share of sales to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in honor of Juneteenth. Control is an album that deals with addiction and we will be donating a portion to benefit START Treatment & Recovery Centers of NYC (@Start.NY)

The latest Constant Smiles album, Control,  is a richly atmospheric and rewarding experience, blurring the lines of dreampop, shoegaze, and psych while building its own singular sonic world. The creative force behind the Brooklyn-based group is the prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Ben Jones, who has created dozens of albums’ worth of music in his home studio. Control confronts what he has now named his “destructive creative drive,” and in turning the machine back on itself, he has managed to create his most transformative work to date.  

Control follows 2019’s John Waters, and it  anchors Jones’s signature reverb-drenched grooves in a palpable intensity. The multi-layered guitar tracks are lush, but there's a crooner’s depth here, akin to the best Chris Isaak songs. Soothing wah-wah pedals and drifting vocals blend with driving drum tracks to hypnotize the listener, while never losing command of their full attention. On standout tracks... more
credits
released June 19, 2020

All songs written, played, and produced by Constant Smiles as part of the New York Trilogy
Except "Swells" by Adam Howell & Constant Smiles
Recorded in The Ashram, The Void, The Backshack, and Leanne’s House in 2018/19

Constant Smiles
Mike Mackey
Spike Currier
Nina Violet
Adam Lipsky
Celeste Glavin
James Whitehead
Sofi Thanhauser
Blaze Bateh
Bridget Collins
Adam Howell
Chris Geller

James Whitehead - Lead Guitar - #1
Nina Violet - Viola - #2
Adam Howell - Guitar - #6
Celeste Glavin - Vocals - #7
Spike Currier- Bass - #8, #11

Mastered by Matthew Cullen
Mastered for vinyl by Adam Boose at Cauliflower Audio
Cover layout by David Correll
Back cover layout by Nick Kulp
Images Scans by Julian Master
Special thanks to: Caleb Braaten, David Correll, Mike Mackey,
Adam Lipsky, Jeff Conklin, Mike Barnes, Celeste Glavin, Spike Currier,
WVVY, Drawing Guts, Bridget Collins, Brad Sanders, Ben Goldberg,
WFMU, Dan O’Connell, Will Roan, Carrie Schaff, Rachel Negro,
Blaze Bateh, Chris Liberato, Maya & Gardner, Farley Glavin,
Matthew James-Wilson, Matthew Cullen, Adam Sierzputowski,
Kevin Cornell, Walter Malsch, Jeanne Staples, Doug Jones,
and Leanne Emerton