San Francisco-based Split Screens is the indie-folk project of a multi-instrumentalist Jesse Cafiero.

Following on from last month’s ‘Need From Me’, Split Screens announces details of brand new single ‘Back Again’, a gentle and reflective ballad that seems to ache under its own weight,

while offering a charming second taste of the forthcoming Everyday Static EP, out

October 11th.

 

Alongside the single’s release, Split Screens are also sharing a stunning accompanying video, which was edited by Cafiero himself. Compiled of material borrowed from the Prelinger Film Archives in San Francisco, the video melds space-age animation with footage from the

1950's and 60’s. The end result is something both surreal and cosmic, a bold and

intriguing new space for the song to fill. 

 

Of the song itself, Cafiero says that the theme of 'Back Again'

“could be something fitting of personal redemption: getting back to a part of yourself that you may have lost down the line or facing a more personal challenge that may be holding you back. I like to think of this song as a

more broad brush stroke, never as literal as it seems,” he explains. 

 

Where much of Everyday Static EP offers a lush concoction of synths and vibraphone, the track ‘Back Again’ feels altogether more refined, Cafiero’s signature lap steel guitar crafting

a sound that feels beautifully unique, accompanied simply by Rory O'Connor (Tycho) on

drums and percussion, and Phil Pristia on electric guitar.

Both understated and graceful, ‘Back Again’ is further evidence of Split Screen’s development,

a sumptuous and evocative moment of shade in the heart of the summer. 

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Split Screens new work is a reflection of the burn-out Cafiero experienced a year or so after his previous LP Before the Storm.

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“My passion for why I started making music in the first place had started to dwindle,” Cafiero says of that time, “and while it’s never fun to put a project on

an indefinite hiatus, that’s essentially what happened”.

 

To keep his creative juices flowing, Jesse shifted his focus to making collage art and also animating music videos with Bay Area bands, which saw his work featured on Vice. These two disciplines would eventually lead him back to writing music once again.

 

“Approaching a new art-form really gave me the perspective and confidence I needed to fight back any self-doubt and dig deep into

recording this EP,” he says. 

 

Suitably, Everyday Static feels immediately more mature, the sense of melancholy more present, the awareness of time and space more pronounced than ever before, leading to his most

engaging and personal work to-date.

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