LOVE BY NUMB3RS Shine A Light On Casco Bay, Maine With Their Video For “Ashes”
FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/MARCEE RONDAN
LOVE BY NUMB3RS
SHINE A LIGHT ON
CASCO BAY, MAINE, INCLUDING PEAKS ISLAND,
WITH NEW “ASHES” VIDEO
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
AND READ THE Q&A BELOW
“ASHES” MARKS THE THIRD VIDEO FROM
BAND’S SOPHOMORE ALBUM
‘EARTH NEEDS A MOON’
Album Artwork by Walter Craven for EARTH NEEDS A MOON
Known for creating strikingly visual and memorable videos, Portland, Maine-based indie trio LOVE BY NUMB3RS–co-vocalists DAN CONNOR and ANNA LOMBARD and multi-instrumentalist JON ROODS–shine a light on Casco Bay, Maine, including quaint Peaks Island, with their video for “Ashes.” Released today (November 16), the rootsy and edgy “Ashes” marks the third video from the band’s current second album EARTH NEEDS A MOON. Watch the video HERE and read a Q&A below with vocalist and songwriter ANNA LOMBARD.
The “Ashes” video was premiered yesterday (November 15) by Wildfire Music, which wrote: “The song reflects on what we’re left with when relationships have died away and what we can recover from that transition, also calling up specific locations and moments to show the way that memory impacts us. The video was directed by the band’s Jon Roods and brings in locations, some of which are mentioned in the song’s lyrics, to blend with past memories and create a dream-like, reflective quality.”
Directed by the band’s JON ROODS, the video was recently filmed in 15 different locations. Among them: four spots on Peaks Island in Casco Bay including Fisher’s Waterhouse (where the band started the album in January); all over Casco Bay; and Cambridge, MA outside the historic Middle East club.
EARTH NEEDS A MOON, released September 30, was produced by ROODS and LOMBARD and follows the band’s November 2021 Colours EP and doesn’t repeat any of its songs. “Ashes” comes on the heels of the album’s first two singles/videos “Don’t Be So Hard On Me” (premiered by Vents Magazine) and “Earth Needs A Moon” (launched by Glide Magazine).
The album is filled with haunting and evocative songs about love, devotion and more with finely etched, atmospheric settings, over which the band cast their spells. The tracks are sonically wide-open and move slowly, however confidently, and make the listener feel like they are floating in air on a journey somewhere. The album was recorded at Fisher’s Waterhouse on Peaks Island as well as the band’s South Ranch studio. EARTH NEEDS A MOON follows the band’s November 2021 Colours EP and doesn’t repeat any of its songs. This is the music of a band who freewheelingly chart a course through eloquent alternative, Americana and roots rock.
“Ashes”:
Q&A with Anna Lombard of LOVE BY NUMB3RS
What inspired you to write “Ashes” and what was your mindset when you wrote it?
ANNA: A friend of mine sent me an email with some poetry and writings that were both stream of consciousness and autobiographical. This one line, “We’re just ashes of feelings that once were felt,” struck me and stayed with me over the course of the last few years because everyone can relate to that. We had only a wood stove out at Peaks Island to heat the Waterhouse studio while writing and recording the album–it was 18 degrees with the windchill–in the dead of January. We may have dabbled with some edible fungi (laughs)…and it kind of took on a life of its own from there.
In “Ashes” you explore the complexities of romantic relationships, as you have in other LBN songs. Why do you think relationships can wind up being difficult?
ANNA: Relationships can be difficult because humans really suck sometimes. However, whereas some of the lyrical content of our songs tend to be kind of sad with this underlying and sometimes not so subtle notion of desperation, this song is more about reminiscing on the rollercoaster of the experience and feelings after a relationship is over…which is sometimes all that you’re left with in the end. Embers…ashes…of what once was.
Musically, “Ashes” underlines the LBN sound, which is rootsy, atmospheric and modern. It has a really attractive rhythmic shuffle and a haunting + very catchy background vocal hook at the beginning of the track and throughout the song. Can you talk about the “LBN sound” on this track and what it was like to record it?
ANNA: “Ashes” was the very first song we started working on for the new record. We had three simple chords, and it was good but not super-inspiring until Jon came up with the bass line–the groove changed the feel of the song altogether and definitely gave it a little Motown feel, plus we had a little inspiration as well from some contemporary songs we were listening to. When I was fleshing out lyrics, I just started singing those intro ooh-oohs over the beds of the track and we liked the way it sounded and how it made us feel. Everything about the song felt warm, especially because we were so cold during that time of year and everything around us seemed frozen in place, like our breath when we walked outside. Time kind of stops when you’re on the island, too–it’s a nice reprieve from the constant go-go-go of everyday life.
What inspired the video?
ANNA: The concept of this video was inspired by the credit reels from “National Lampoon’s Vacation” title sequence with all the postcards of locations. Most scenes in it are super fun and make us “seem” likable…ha, ha. Instead of the video being dark and regretful, it’s more of a reminiscing on a past love.
How many locations were used in the video?
ANNA: We used 15 different locations including Cambridge, MA outside the historic Middle East club, which is sadly closing. There were also four locations on Peaks Island including Battery Steele; a public swing on the edge of the coast of the island; and Fisher’s Waterhouse (where we started the record last January). We also filmed all over Casco Bay on Alex Fisher’s boat and on the ferry. Jon and I “broke” into the amusement park and arcade called Palace Playland down in Old Orchard Beach which is somewhat of a legendary and cringey-but-loveable destination in southern Maine. Jon also channeled some Silk Sonic dance moves in our backyard for a shot while I was coaching my oldest’s soccer team one day–that was a nice surprise. And there are other various locations where I tried not to break my neck roller skating for the first time in 20+ years on surfaces like a dock.
Cool how you show a part of Maine that lots of folks may be unaware of, like Casco Bay + Peaks Island. Can you give us quotes about this area where you live?
ANNA: Peaks Island is very special place to us for a multitude of reasons. It’s only a 15-minute ferry ride from downtown Portland, but when you get there, you feel like you’re away from home. It’s also known for being a safe haven for artists. Peaks is only about 720 acres but is packed with so much history and some of the most beautiful, private beaches. It’s the spot where I almost blow myself up with fireworks was shot inside a tunnel at Battery Steele, which was a World War II military fortification. We also took Alex’s boat out to Fort Gorges which is about a five-minute ride from Peaks. After the War of 1812, the United States Army Corps of Engineers proposed that a fort be built on Hog Island Ledge, in Casco Bay at the entrance to the harbor in Portland. It’s only accessible by boat–Congress didn’t fund construction of the Fort until 1857 and when the Civil War began in 1861, they worked quickly to finish it over the course of the following four years, but when it was completed in 1865, right as the war ended, it’s said that modern explosives made the fort obsolete. The last time it was used by the army was when it stored submarine mines during WWII. There is still a 300 pound Parrott rifle out there–and it is one of the biggest and only remaining specimens of civil war vintage artillery. It’s kinda wild.
Ashes
Music written by LBN
Lyrics written by Anna Lombard
Caught a ferry across the bay
Felt the cold on both our faces
couldn’t even make a sound
Our breath was frozen
And all the things we couldn’t say
Like how this house just ain’t a home
And all that sadness lives inside of you
I know it’s fucked up cause I got it too
Oh there’s nothing quite like regret
Crashed my show at the Middle East
I got so drunk I couldn’t feel a thing
And it reminded me of New Years
Broken bottles and the piercing screams
Showed up in Paris when you wanted me
And oh the sadness always followed me
I made a scene in front of so called friends
Fell down the stairs and made a scene again
Man there’s nothing quite like regret
Now we’re just ashes of feelings
That once were felt
How bout the time in Marrakesh
You got so drunk you looked like death
Chasing me around a rooftop pool
Slept on a chair inside our hotel room
Don’t get me wrong I ain’t upset
So lift that weight up off your chest
This feeling won’t go away
Oh there’s nothing quite like regret
Now we’re just ashes of feelings
That once we felt
Oooooooooooohhhhhh
About another quarter mile
To Fisher’s Waterhouse
Our little church on peaks
Do anything to make you smile
If it’s good enough for you
It’s good enough for me
We’re just ashes of feelings
We’re just ashes of feelings
‘EARTH NEEDS A MOON’
ALBUM TRACK LISTING
(All songs written by LBN)
1. Intro
2. When I Close My Eyes
3. Earth Needs A Moon
4. Don’t Be So Hard On Me
5. Ashes
6. Do It All Over
7. The Universe
8. What Would I Do Without You
9. The Refuge
10. Last Love
11. A Million Suns
Photo credit: Cam Jones
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