Spotlight: Water Filling Your Lungs Across Time and Space: ‘Illuminator’ is the GIFT That Keeps Giving
SURRENDER TO FLUX WITH GIFT — They have sharpened sound and focus on sophomore record, Illuminator, with psych-rock pop production that transcends expectations to the stars and back. Building off more personal introspection by frontman TJ Freda on debut album, Momentary Presence, GIFT has now found their center on Illuminator — and Madonna lit the way.
This record unlocks high-energy dance-pop creative potential with pulsating themes of water filling your lungs across time and space. Their spiritualized-induced psychedelic foundation is still certainly felt, yet Freda breathes new-wave versatility into the fuzz. This time more heavily inspired by pop song structure, their 2023 EU/UK tour, and The Giver by Lois Lowry, Illuminator refuses stillness.
Although led by Freda, GIFT is equal parts Jessica Gurewitz, Kallan Campbell, Justin Hrabovsky, and Gabe Camarano; I was first introduced to the group last November. They were hot off tour with GUM, and we crossed paths in Ballard, Seattle for Freakout Fest right before they tackled the West Coast with close friends in Peel Dream Magazine. I distinctly remember falling in love with their sound on “Gumball Garden” live at Tractor Tavern.
Illuminator was still being mixed at the time, and Freda can’t believe it’s been a year since he and Gurewitz were writing the songs. Last he spoke with Luna, GIFT was nowhere near what he now calls final form. Their first album was born out of the pandemic, during which time he was dealing with near-crippling anxiety. It was a big step just to release the project in the first place, he tells me, whereas this time around with Illuminator, Freda’s owned those feelings of unease very differently, more so like an “obsessive positive,” or accelerator. Together, we reflected on the double-edged nature of anxiety and how this record was his and the band’s “lean-in moment,” to the discomfort and possibility of the future he was so unnerved by on Momentary Presence.
Leaning in together was also key for Illuminator’s materialization. Freda tells me about letting the reins go: he used to reach 90% completion on tracks, and then bring the band in, but everything changed for this new album. Despite the complexities of getting all five people on the same page, he says they worked tirelessly to communicate for the greater good of the project.
He likens their cohesion to a platonic, poly relationship, one that has been working so well under increased pressure to make something truly great with Captured Tracks. Hrabvosky co-produced everything with Freda, who says he was brilliant in terms of everything sound. Campbell (bass) was instrumental in helping with arrangement and structures, and Gurewitz co-wrote nearly all of the lyrics with Freda. She’d also never really sung in a band before GIFT, and he pushed her to make her voice really present on this record.
Freda shares just as much praise for Camarano, in particular for his 15 days straight in the studio, just doing drums. “I’m really, really particular about drums, and he brought so much to the table, because on the previous one, it was … myself drumming, random other people, or drum machines,” Freda says. “He really put his flavor on it.” The rest of Illuminator came to fruition at Freda’s home in Brooklyn, New York.
We talked about Madonna and the influence of ’90s UK rave culture on this record, which is meant to be smooth but crunchy and riddled with hyperspeed chaos. Touring through places like Bristol last year fueled the band with Massive Attack inspiration, not to mention how raving in Glasgow blew their minds wide open.
Freda names the relationship between rhythm and bass as key. That’s where track two, “Light Runner,” comes from, exploring the power of breakbeat meanwhile directly influenced by Madonna’s Ray of Light just as well. Freda cites that arc of her career as hugely fascinating, mainly because she worked with genius electronic producer William Orbit. This marked a huge shift in her sound, and GIFT sought to make the same kind of genre moves on Illuminator because electronic and pop music are intrinsically compatible.
Freda goes on to mention how Dannah Gottlieb, who put their album artwork together, had just come off creative direction behind the Madonna Celebration Tour: “When we were talking about ideas, she was super inspired by Madonna as a whole [for] her entire career, and that played a huge part in inspiring the album and the way we were gonna release it,” Freda says. “She’s kind of like that one-in-a-million.”
The album cover comes from the music video for track four, “Going in Circles,” which begins with the band playing live and then gradually melts into visuals more warped by time and confusion. Lyrics span the cyclical nature of yearning for closure, as many band members either went through a really weird breakup and/or lost someone close to them while making this record.
Underneath high energy, dance-inspired production, many songs embody what Freda deems euphoric darkness, especially when it comes to “Destination Illumination.” This track explores Freda’s long-standing connection with The Giver, Lois Lowry’s dystopian fiction that we all had to read for middle school English. Freda was enthralled by the emotionally charged nature of the story from a young age and still is: “I probably read that book … I don’t know, 50 times,” he tells me. “It’s such an interesting metaphor for life.” He latched on to the main character, Jonas, for the way he must bear knowledge and suffering, and this record harnesses the spectrum of what it truly means to be human by association. Jonas finds it within himself to bring “light,” metaphorically applied to the Giver’s knowledge of true human experience, to the rest of society by the novel’s completion. Needless to say, GIFT does the same through Illuminator.
Their record release show and biggest show to date will be held at Bowery Ballroom on Friday, Sept. 20. Freda can’t wait to see this album truly realized on fall tour with fantasy of a broken heart and later Catcher, followed by their October run with BODEGA in the UK.
