Mikal Cronin is a composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Los Angeles, CA. He began his
musical life playing in rock and punk bands like Moonhearts and Okie Dokie. Since 2011 he has released four full length albums under his own name. He’s been part of many projects with artists such as Ty Segall, The Intelligence / Lars Finberg, Jess Cornelius, Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff, Shannon & the Clams and more. Along with touring and recording records, Mikal composes and produces music for film and television. Mikal holds a BFA in music from California Institute of the Arts.
Mikal Cronin cut his musical teeth playing bass in garage punk bands and became a trusted and long-
running member of Ty Segall's band; on his own he crafted music that was garage rock-inspired while also leaning toward power pop with a bit of folk-rock added for good measure. After two albums that honed this sound into something hooky and sleek, he looked to classic rock for inspiration on 2015's MCIII, and by the time of 2019's slickly produced and intricately arranged Seeker, Cronin was making music that sounded huge and mature, with almost no garage rock in its DNA
SEEKER 2019
After releasing the impressive classic rock-leaning MCIII in 2015, Mikal Cronin pivoted to spending a few years playing and recording with his old friend Ty Segall's band. When he did turn back to his own muse, he spent time holed up in a cabin in the California hills reflecting on recent heartbreak and writing songs. With the help of producer Jason Quiver of Papercuts, Segall and members of his band
including guitrarist Emmett Kelly of Cairo Gang, Cronin set about putting them on tape. Much like the expansive, dense music on MCIII, Seeker isn't anything close to resembling his early power pop in the garage sound. This is huge, imposing music that's clothed in full arrangements of layered guitars, swelling background vocals, various keys and orchestral strings with Cronin singing with fierce passion and rueful regret. It builds on the sturdy frame of MCIII and delivers bigger emotions, trickier melodies and more sound.
The opening one-two punch of "Shelter" and "Show Me" is a perfect table setter; two wide-screen ballads that let the listener know that Cronin is aiming for the heights and hitting them with ease. Both songs have the clastrophic, almost murky feel of the darker side of AOR; "Shelter" comes across like a
mix of Led Zeppelin mystery and Tom Petty swagger, "Show Me" is like a distant cousin of Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance," as played by Neil Young & Crazy Horse circa Zuma. The rest of the album doesn't stray too far from these classic rock influences and the ghost of Petty hangs heavily over songs like the chiming "Fire" and "Caravan," which sounds like the dark timeline Traveling Wiburys thanks to the minor chords and evil boogie beat. "I've Got a Reason" goes one generation further back and lifts the Beatles' "Dear Prudence" while adding a layer of metallic grit and Cronin's pleading vocals.
No matter the stylistic variation found on Seeker --- and it goes from spare acoustic ballads (On the
Shelf") to raging rockers that deserve to be cranked real loud ("Guardian Well") -- Cronin's songs are hard-hitting, sticky and emotionally wrenching, the band plays with passionate fire and the production goes a long way toward capturing a live in the studio feel that's loose and rambling. The incredible killer ballad "Sold" can make you cry, is so strong that can bring tears in your eyes.
"Tell me you love me
leave me alone"
(Switched - On Seeker Version)
Fans of Cronin's early, less complicated work might long for a return to those days, but those days are long gone. For anyone who thought MCIII was heading in a direction that sounded promising, Seeker arrives at the destination in a tumbling, exciting cloud of dust, sound and craft.
Mikal Cronin – Seeker
Label: Merge Records – MRG700
Format: CD, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: Oct 25, 2019
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative
TRACKS
01. Shelter 3:49
02. Show Me 4:19
03. Feel It All 4:50
04. Fire 4:46
05. Sold 4:00
06. I've Got Reason 3:42
07. Caravan 2:08
08. Guardian Well 5:09
09. Lost a Year 5:18
10. On the Shelf 5:09
LINE - UP
Freedom Band: Ben Boye, Charles Moothart, Emmett Kelly, Mikal Cronin
NOTES
Seeker is Mikal Cronin’s fourth and finest full-length to date. Recorded live with a crew of close friends and engineer Jason Quever at Palmetto Studios in Los Angeles, it finds Cronin pushing his often devastating power pop into darker territory.
My EAC program refuses to convert it in flac, So take it in M4a (Better than MP3).
M4a Size: 115 MB
SWITCHED - ON SEEKER 2020
Mikal Cronin experienced a creativity boom in late 2018/early 2019, inspired in part by the massive wildfires in Southern California that forced him to evacuate from the Idyllwild cabin where he’d been
writing songs. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he recorded two full albums: Seeker, released in October 2019, and its electronic counterpart Switched-On Seeker, in which he set out to record the songs of Seeker track by track using only his collection of synthesizers and drum machines. While Cronin’s self-assured vocals and the overarching theme of destruction and rebirth unite both albums, everything else about them is different. Experience your favorite songs from Seeker in a whole new way.
Mikal Cronin – Switched - On Seeker
Label: Merge Records – MRG711
Format: CD, Album, Stereo, Reissue 2020
Country: US
Released: Oct 25, 2019
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Electro
TRACKS
01. Shelter - Switched On (3:49)
02. Show Me - Switched On (4:19)
03. Feel It All - Switched On (4:51)
04. Fire - Switched On (4:56)
05. Sold - Switched On (4:00)
06. I’ve Got Reason - Switched On (3:43)
07. Caravan - Switched On (2:09)
08. Guardian Well - Switched On (5:10)
09. Lost a Year - Switched On (5:18)
10. On the Shelf - Switched On (3:12)
Flac Size: 248 MB
Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin: Reverse Shark Attack 2012 on Urban Aspirines HERE