Bubble Tea and Cigarettes and the soulful bedroom pop, funky grooves and emo melancholia of "Lemongrass City" (Official Video)

"your scent of lemongrass / is all over my sheets / you're in my bath alone..."

The soulful bedroom pop, funk saturated grooves and emo melancholia of "Lemongrass City", by Seattle Washington's Bubble Tea and Cigarettes, wraps around your hips in almost imperceptible ways slow dancing with you. Hopefully this happens when you are alone and thinking about the one you long for far away, or even in the next room. In terms of the genre blending and wonderfully hushed vocal countenance, this track for me feels a bit nostalgic as if the song is poised in that wonderful sliver of time when music was less defined but just was, when soul pop and indie rock and adult contemporary pop collided quite a bit and now one made a big deal out of it. That sliver was 1996 to me, sorry to be so precise but music felt very communal with less in fighting between genres and artists, at least that is how I remember it but I am much older and my memory might be faulty. 

I come back to "Lemongrass City" for it's beauty and the feelings it stirs in my, that sense of loss of something (probably youthful hope for me) and the longing of love. I also for some strange reason think about Michael Jackson, think of early Beach House and MGMT, and bits and pieces of Chicano Batman and the amazing Stina Nordenstam.

LINER NOTES (bracketed):

[Hi, we are Kat and Andi. Just to tell you some stories behind the project. In the winter of 2019, around midnight, we were strolling around the neon-lit streets of lower east side NYC, a little escape from our monotonous 9-to-5 lives. As we continued walking, a really good melody came to Andi's mind. So we rushed back home and recorded the melody on a guitar, accompanied by some MIDI bass and drums. We ended up looping and vibing to the music for hours until the morning came. The melody later became the intro of the first song we wrote - '5AM Empanada With You'.

We both grew up in pretty traditional families and societies, but we were both emotional and rebellious kids. We worked hard to leave the past and somehow ended up somewhere on our own. We felt like aliens. We tried to become many things, but ultimately became a 'nothing'.

'Bubble Tea and Cigarettes' is kind of a haven for us to unleash some constant confusions and dying fantasies. As for the band name, it started as a joke as Kat used to drink more bubble tea than water, and smoked half a pack a day, as a way to cope with some crazy pressures. We ended up using it as it, although may seem silly, kind of represents a certain lifestyle that we write songs about.]

-Robb Donker Curtius  

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM 

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2UMeX51X1prCFgi51RHo9P

https://soundcloud.com/bubbleteaandcigarettes

https://bubbleteaandcigarettes.bandcamp.com/album/theres-nothing-but-pleasure

https://www.instagram.com/bubbleteaandcigarettes

https://www.facebook.com/bubbleteaandcigarettes

https://www.tiktok.com/@bubbleteaandcigarettes

https://bubbleteaandcigarettes.com/home


Hi, we are Kat and Andi. Just to tell you some stories behind the project. In the winter of 2019, around midnight, we were strolling around the neon-lit streets of lower east side NYC, a little escape from our monotonous 9-to-5 lives. As we continued walking, a really good melody came to Andi's mind. So we rushed back home and recorded the melody on a guitar, accompanied by some MIDI bass and drums. We ended up looping and vibing to the music for hours until the morning came. The melody later became the intro of the first song we wrote - '5AM Empanada With You'.

We both grew up in pretty traditional families and societies, but we were both emotional and rebellious kids. We worked hard to leave the past and somehow ended up somewhere on our own. We felt like aliens. We tried to become many things, but ultimately became a 'nothing'.

'Bubble Tea and Cigarettes' is kind of a haven for us to unleash some constant confusions and dying fantasies. As for the band name, it started as a joke as Kat used to drink more bubble tea than water, and smoked half a pack a day, as a way to cope with some crazy pressures. We ended up using it as it, although may seem silly, kind of represents a certain lifestyle that we write songs about.

Bubble Tea and Cigarettes, Kat and Andi, Seattle Washington, guitar, midi bass, drums, sparse emo sound, dreamy, bedroom pop, "Lemongrass City" (Official Video), synthpop, album "we should've killed each other",