AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Airborne Toxic Event

 

Artist:The Airborne Toxic Event

Song:Sometime After Midnight

Album:The Airborne Toxic Event

The Airborne Toxic Event is an indie band that will remind you of other more successful bands. I think they sound too much like U2. Sometime After Midnight is from their 2008 debut album. They have bounced around too many record labels since then. They are from Los Angeles led by lead singer and songwriter Mikel Jollett. While attending writing workshops, Jollett decided to try music instead of trying to be a novelist. This was after going through a romantic breakup, his mother was diagnosed with cancer and Jollett was diagnosed with alopecia. He was introduced to drummer Daren Taylor and they started writing together. Jollett met Anna Bulbrook at a restaurant. She is a classically trained violinist who brought an orchestral sound to the band. They added bassist Noah Harmon who was a jazz musician and guitarist Steven Chen was friends with Jollett but had been living in San Francisco. The Airborne Toxic Event started playing local gigs and released a single. Sometime Around Midnight was getting radio play. They signed with The Shout Factory label Majordomo and released the 2008 album The Airborne Toxic Event. Though they didn't really have a distinctive sound, the album was favorably reviewed except by Pitchfork who said they sounded too much like other bands. This eventually got them a deal with Island Records who rereleased the album. Sometime Around Midnight was a top five Alt Rock hit and it reached the Bubbling Under section of the Billboard Hot 100. It also charted internationally. They released three albums on Island and then switched to Epic for the 2015 album Dope Machine. Harmon was replaced by Adrian Rodriguez. They recorded two albums for Epic and their latest album Hollywood Park is on Rounder Records. Anna Bulbrook left and was not replaced. She is now part of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Why have they switched record companies so much? Probably poor record sales. Labels like Island and Epic have expectations. They cut bands if those expectations aren't met. There is less pressure on a smaller label like Rounder. I just don't think The Aitborne Toxic Event is distinctive enough to be really successful. Check them out for yourself. Here's the video for Sometime After Midnight by The Airborne Toxic Event. This is the first of two videos for this song. The girl is Icelandic actress Anna Briem from the 2008 film Journey to the Center of the Earth.