Blocks of Color Blocks of Sound

by Membra

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Pre-order of Blocks of Color Blocks of Sound. You get 2 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.

Purchasable with gift card

releases May 9, 2024

$10 USD
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes digital pre-order of Blocks of Color Blocks of Sound. You get 2 tracks now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.

digital album releases May 9, 2024

item ships out on or around May 6, 2024

Purchasable with gift card

$23 USD or more

1.	Greenwood
2.	Always Blue 03:54	buy track
3.	Running 03:15	buy track
4.	It's Alright
5.	Red and Blue
6.	Monotone
7.	Shingle
8.	Persona
9.	Goodbye Green Lawns
10.	Big Burn

about

Laden with subtle detail, "Blocks of Color Blocks of Sound"—the debut album of Brooklyn-based experimental pop artist Membra—rewards the listener for close observation. On its face, it is an album filled to the brim with monumental hooks and home cooked synthesizers, gentle fingerpicked guitar and noise odysseys. But just beneath the surface lies an array of gifts: a haze of environmental sound, an unexpected church bell, and murmuring harmonies suffuse the mix like a passing conversation; complex games of rhythm and harmony flow as easily and intuitively as a nursery rhyme. It is a musical terrarium—a self-contained universe of miniatures, moving in and out of focus against a backdrop of change.

Lyrically, "Blocks of Color Blocks of Sound" tends toward the quotidian: love, anxiety, communication, and colors, sandwiched between musings on an America that’s lost the plot. But as in life, it is the surroundings that create context and meaning. A self-soothing chant (“You’re fine / you’re all right / you’re okay / you’re fine”) gives way to a musing on cosmic-scale processes, returning as a triumph; fixed lyrical melodies (“Baby do you always feel so blue?”) detach and recontextualize themselves over shifting harmonies, allowing the words to take on new colors.

True to its name, "Blocks of Color Blocks of Sound" feels modular: no matter how they are arranged, its elements will hold some value. But it’s the process of arriving at that perfect configuration, of trying every possible combination and sometimes getting lost along the way, that gives it purpose and meaning. To say that the journey is greater than the destination is a cliché, but it works—this is an album that emulates and exudes life.

credits

releases May 9, 2024

Produced, Written and Performed by Ned Porter

Mixed by Jack Mullin

Mastered by Paul Mac of Hardgroove Mastering

Drums on “Red and Blue” by Andrew Libenson
Strings on “Always blue” by Ginger Dolden and Pete Lanctot
Piano on “Shingle” and “Always Blue” Recorded by Jack Mullin
Arrangement Help on "Shingle" by Sam Smith

For Amy Pedulla

Special thanks to Jazz Adam, Antoni Scarano, Colin Manjoney, Dove Kohan, Kat Hornstein, Cody Defalco, Oliver Pedulla, Gabe Cohn, Eli Dreyfus, Danny sullivan, Nic Koller, Paola Gallio, Angel Deradoorian, Jeff Bartell, Will Scott, Noah Prebish, Anar Badalov, Evan Becker, Justin Pottle, Talia Steinman, Nathan Watkins, Jason Loeb, Zola Brown, Katherine Houle, Charlotte Porter, Mom and Dad.

license

about

Membra Brooklyn, New York

Membra makes music through experimentation and synthesis, nesting his voice in the center. Membra builds a sonic room and lets you stay for a while.

contact / help

Contact Membra

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Report this album or account

If you like Membra, you may also like:

Semaphore / Second Signal
by Auclair

featured on Bandcamp Radio Sep 30, 2014
go to album
VAMPYR
by Death And Vanilla

Haunting tunes from Sweden, available on limited blood red vinyl, and packaged with a foldout poster. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 16, 2014
go to album
In The Midnight Sun or Stubbornly Persistent Illusion
by GOLDEN DRUGS

featured on Bandcamp Radio Aug 12, 2014
go to album
The Sick Room
by Tadzio

Classical instrumentation mixed with emotionally direct art-pop songwriting and sensibilities—unique, lush, warm, and complex. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 30, 2019
go to album
Nightside
by Luke Cissell

Atmospheric baroque instrumental pop from composer Luke Cissell—complex and carefully constructed but not without a sense of humor or light. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 14, 2020
go to album
Lead Me To The Glow
by Shmu

This Austin group stitches together the synthesized sounds of the '80s & '90s with '00s indie & '70s AM gold, all under glitchy electronics. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 26, 2018
go to album
World Of Magic EP
by Iyam.

Gorgeously epic dream pop from Jakarta, Iyam accents their gauzy melodies with glossy synths and crisp drums. Bandcamp New & Notable May 11, 2018
go to album