Album Notes

Philadelphia newcomers, Brother Sean are due to release their sophomore album Window Seat on April 3rd 2007. Window Seat was co-produced and mixed by John Plymale (Meat Puppets, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Superchunk) at Overdub Lane in Durham, NC and mastered by Greg Calbi (Bob Dylan, U2) at Sterling Sound New York, NY. The record features a cover of the Depeche Mode song “Everything Counts” and a more rock-driven sound than the band’s synth/folk/pop debut Just Hold Still.

Brothers Sean and Kevin McPeak formed Brother Sean in 2002 and soon began collaborating with electronic musician Eric Pietras. Their self-produced debut album Just Hold Still was released in 2003, and several songs from this album earned Kevin McPeak an honorable mention in North Carolina's Songwriters Co-op songwriting contest. Reviewers for Durham, North Carolina’s The Independent, noted that “synthesizer, glitched-out voices, and found sounds hinge the nostalgia-borne work of Brother Sean, who nestle aurally adventurous, emotionally earnest work between Richard Thompson smarts and Howie Day inebriation.” Brother Sean toured the east coast to support Just Hold Still, and played at noteworthy venues including Arlington, Virginia’s Iota Club.

Work on Window Seat began in 2005 with vocalist and guitarist Kevin McPeak crafting a new set of songs and collaborating with North Carolina session drummer Chris Garges. “After Just Hold Still I wanted to create an album that had both programmed and live drums, remarked Kevin McPeak. “Chris was perfect for the job. His drumming added a ton of energy to the songs and complimented the programmed material beautifully.” Window Seat also features collaborations with North Carolina pianist Kurt Melges and backing vocalist Mary Louise Cuchetti.

Lyrical inspiration for several of the songs on Window Seat arose while flying. “There's nothing like looking out the window from 30,000 ft to give you a different perspective on things”, says Kevin McPeak. McPeak's lyrics tackle a number of topics ranging from indecisiveness “Should I” to depression “A World Spinning” to taking a loved one for granted “When I Wake Up”. “Envy”, inspired by a Yevgeny Yevtusenko poem, addresses McPeak's own struggles with jealousy and desire.

McPeak reflects, “we really took our time with the record, explored new sonic territory, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.”