Curling is deeply enamored with the juxtaposition of edgy urban landscapes and the capricious allure of indie pop harmonies. This affinity is precisely what makes their latest creation, “No Guitar,” a source of tremendous exhilaration for me. Its enthralling resonance has led me to an incessant cycle of exploration and engagement. With each subsequent listening, the contours of the melodies begin to take shape, revealing a profound and inherent splendor that is truly captivating.

Crafted meticulously over a span of five years, “No Guitar” emerges as an exuberant commemoration of life’s myriad facets – from the transcendence of death and the inception of life, to the trials of unemployment, the intricacies of human connection, and the intricate dance between anxiety and elation. Themes of solitude, melancholy, and the cherished companionship of canines also find their voices within this opus, underscoring Curling’s unique narrative.

Dwelling in disparate corners of existence, Joseph (JoJo) Brandel and Bernie Gelman offer a glimpse into the enchanting genesis of “No Guitar.” Their shared journey unfolds across distances physical and emotional, culminating in a musical testament that bears witness to the complexity and beauty of the human experience.

How do you decide when a song is finished and ready to be recorded?

Our songwriting process is pretty unusual: we (guitarists/vocalists Jojo and Bernie) usually start with a small idea and meet up to flesh it out. Because Jojo lives in Japan and Bernie lives in California, we can only get together for short periods of time, and it’s sometimes a year or longer between our writing sessions. We’ll have something like a week together where we’ll spend a few days writing new songs, another day or two rehearsing them as a band (with drummer Kynwyn), and then a last day or two in the studio cutting basic tracks. After that, a skeletal version of a new song might sit on the shelf for a long time before we add overdubs or write vocals!

It’s hard to decide when a song is ‘finished’ because of this unique writing process. It involves a lot of listening to demos and unfinished recordings and planning out additions until we feel that the song is complete. Sometimes that just means some bass and guitar overdubs and vocals (“Hi-Elixir” is a good example of this), and other times it’s a very long process of experimentation and trying new ideas (like “Husk,” where we added harmonium much later and the cello solo at the end because it felt like the song was missing something).

What compliment you once received will you never forget?

Someone once came up and said we sounded like “Crosby, Stills, and Nash meets Cap’n Jazz,” and that’s always been a funny comment to us.

Those magical moments when you’re working in the studio. Which moment was the most magical?

From this most recent record, the most memorable recording moment was probably creating the latter half of “Dysfunction,” a song that we knew pretty early on would be a great way to close out Side A of the album. Everything was very spontaneous while we were recording and layering instruments for that part. We had this huge wall of Pocket Piano synth loops that we’d made a week prior and decided to just drop them in, and it made for such a cool, mysterious atmosphere. Kynwyn totally killed it with an amazing groove, and we kind of chopped up her drum parts to give the whole section a more off-kilter, dysfunctional vibe.

When did you decide to start asking for opinions on the new songs?

We’re always sharing demos and new tracks with friends and family. A big landmark for us if a song is “working” is if we find our early listeners getting melodies and hooks stuck in their heads. I definitely remember a friend that couldn’t get “Hi-Elixir” out of his head for a while, so I knew it was probably a keeper.

The record is done, and the music is out. Is the best fun done now, or is it just beginning?

For us, a lot of the fun is done. We’re definitely studio rats, ha! But right now, we’re on the road doing a short stint of shows to promote the new album. We’re really fortunate this time to be able to play some dates supporting our friends Nation of Language on a couple of gigs, and we’re hoping that we can get our music some wider support from new listeners.

Our new album is self-released, so once the tour is over, the next step for us is going to be to try to promote it as much as we can and (hopefully soon) plan a tour in Japan for early 2024 since Jojo lives there. We’d love to find a record label or someone interested in maybe repressing some of our earlier releases or doing a tape release of No Guitar, too!