Brooklyn and Berlin based duo Take Berlin released their first EP Lionize just this week, premiering their single “Sebastion.” In winter of 2011, Guitarist Jesse Barnes snagged a cassette deck out of the trash in Brooklyn and a few months later met vocalist Yvonne Ambrée. Barnes and Ambrée decided to use the tape deck to record all of the basic tracks on Lionize, using the vintage-y effects of tape recording to capture the enchanting fuzzy warmness of their sound.
“Sebastian,” was influenced by Jose Saramago’s novel, “The Year of The Death of Ricardo Reis,” says Ambrée. “In the story, the protagonist is visited by a ghost… this magic-realism struck a chord in me as I began to consider the “ghosts” that visit us from time to time — cultural ghosts as well as those from our own personal history.” “Sebastian” was the last song to be recorded on the EP and is a simple yet timeless song, which is exactly what Barnes’ wants. “The instrumentation so far has been as minimal as possible… we want to compose songs that stand up on their own and would be relevant 10 years from now.”
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