The San Francisco musician Scott Hansen makes clean, accessible post-rock under the name Tycho. He released the album Infinite Health earlier this year, and he's a regular on the festival circuit. For his latest single "Boundary Rider," Tycho has joined forces with Interpol frontman Paul Banks, a big influence. "Boundary Rider" is a cinematic psych-rock track that makes me think of upscale lunch restaurants. Here's Tycho, explaining how it came to be:
Interpol has long been one of my biggest influences, so I jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with Paul on a song. "Boundary Rider" started life as an atmospheric instrumental song titled "Forge" that I had been working on here and there for a couple of years. When I met Paul and started thinking about what songs might connect with his voice, "Forge" immediately came to mind.
I sent him a demo along with the prompt "Boundary Rider." I had been reading about the lives of Boundary Riders during the 1930’s, people who patrolled and maintained fences in the vast expanse of the Western Australian outback. There was something about this solitary existence that I felt resonated with the song, and the deep sense of isolation in Paul’s lyrics brought this into focus.
Give it a listen below.
"Boundary Rider" is out now on Mom + Pop/Ninja Tune. Paul Banks released his Sister Midnight soundtrack earlier this year. Next year, Interpol will tour South America and play Coachella.
