"Then it is dark; it is a night where kings in golden suits ride elephants over the mountains."

After a yearlong uprooting of all that was familiar - bankruptcy, a rat-infested relocation, and the breakup of a longstanding relationship - it's not hard to see why Fred Nicolaus' new project takes its name from the last line in John Cheever's "The Country Husband." Similar to Nicolaus' own story, Cheever's tale follows a man's spiral after a near plane crash paints his world in a different color. Through this journey his wife leaves him, he acts out - sometimes aggressively - towards others, and has an adulterous relationship with the underage babysitter.

But "Swimming in '99," the first track off Golden Suits' self-titled album, is anything but depressing. It evokes feelings of nostalgia cheerily packaged in sunny arrangements of percussion and off-beat guitar.

Infuse a little folk-pop into your day and be sure to check out the video for "Swimming in '99." It brings the story full circle, following Nicolaus around NYC, buying up every copy of Cheever's book he can get his hands on. As he carries the sack, it gets heavier and heavier until he can barely lift it, symbolizing much more than just a pile of books...

posted by Staff
November 2013