Gloom Balloon assembles two-dozen musicians for orchestral, expansive, masterful new album, out Sept. 25th via Grand Phony

NEWS

In name alone, Gloom Balloon represents grand ups and grand downs.

The new album from Des Moines, Iowa-based mastermind Patrick Tape Fleming does, too. From its Sgt. Pepper’s-riffing cover (a theme of visual homage that has stretched across three full-lengths) to its compelling short story of a title (So Bergman Uses Bach To Get His Point Across, I Feel Like I Have Chosen Rock But At What A Cost), to the record’s sweeping opening track, “Tru Love Waits,” featuring what feels like a church choir preaching its only lines, “Don’t you ever say goodbye. Don’t you make your baby cry. True love waits, it never dies.”

Tape Fleming lists no less than 32 instruments attributed to himself (including Static Electricity, Box of Bulbs, and of course, Balloons) in the album’s liner notes, before going on to rattle off another 22 participants in this recording. At a time when we as a people are isolated, and artists are making recordings that reflect isolation, Gloom Balloon’s latest (Grand Phony, Sept. 25th) sounds communal, and that’s needed.