Formed in 2006, The Kiss That Took A Trip is the brainchild of M.D. Trello, the sole member and admitted factotum of the project. Thirty In Twenty is designed not just as a celebratory retrospective, but as a roadmap illustrating how the project’s music has mutated over the years—evolving from highly experimental, instrumental ambient post-rock into streamlined, electronica-tingled alternative pop/rock.

The double album features the absolute best of the project’s output, alongside exciting new additions:

• 3 Brand New Tracks: “We are what we protect,” “Forevermore,” and “Mimosa.”

• 2 Complete Reworkings: “Three girls” and “Vanilla killer.”

• 2 Remixed Tunes: “Amplification of the senses” and “Stock footage.”

• 23 Remastered Fan Favorites: Including the quirky, highly acclaimed cover of Q Lazzarus’s “Goodbye horses.”

The album’s rollout was spearheaded by the nostalgic piano ballad “We are what we protect,” followed by the official lead single and accompanying video for “Forevermore,” which launched on March 18th.

Operating entirely outside the conventional music industry, The Kiss That Took A Trip maintains a strict and unapologetic rulebook: completely independent, computer-based production (while vehemently rejecting the “electronic music” tag), zero live performances, and a commitment to Creative Commons, free-of-charge digital music. Trello champions a “pay only if you wish” model, prioritizing a consistent, lasting music catalog with high replay value over quick consumption. Furthermore, amidst the advent of AI, the project strictly spells out its stance in favor of human-crafted artistry.

“In an era obsessed with instant hooks and tidy playlists, The Kiss That Took A Trip remains a glorious anomaly.” — Chris Bound, Horror Vacui Review

Blending melody, atmosphere, drone, and dissonance, Trello’s signature sound will appeal to fans of The Church, Cibo Matto, Blonde Redhead, Depeche Mode, Mogwai, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

The Chicago-based self-styled instrumental synth rock artist known as Eric Ezra has been pounding out his grunge-meets-goth-meets-metal-meets-progressive (but not prog rock) work in rapid succession since 2020, with Amphibian being his seventh(!) album in four years, and that doesn’t include a number of interstitial singles and EPs. Chronically experimental, Ezra’s works incorporate some truly novel and haunting forms of production work and pair with guitar styles ranging from shoegaze to psychedelic.

Amphibian is Ezra’s most comprehensive album to-date, as it seems to not only be about experimenting but elevating the sounds he’s working with. It flirts with concept album whilst still being extremely avant-garde and exploratory. These tracks do somehow seem amphibious, clocking the life and times of the figure on the album cover. With tracks like “Automation” and “Mosquito” almost feeling anthropomorphic, the storytelling is rich and interesting as well as being musically sound.

The album amphibian is just a collection of bangers I wrote. There is some conceptual significance about the first track being called amphibian because it sounds like a monster walking through a swamp but other than that it’s just a lot of music. The song titles are just associations with concepts that songs sounded like to me. 

Amphibian is a step lateral from Ezra’s previous albums, with more integration of guitar and production and more concept work, but Ezra’s trademark heavy-handed-meets-melodic sound is still very much there. Fans need not worry about this seminal offering changing Eric Ezra too much. His work is just as weird and interesting as ever.

Independent Music Promotions Inc.