Red Velvet Snow Ball

VINYL FORMAT. While they now live in Los Angeles, Pepper Rabbit was practically born in New Orleans. In fact, the NOLA sessions for their debut LP, Beauregard, left such a lasting impression on the young duo that it continues to haunt this summer's Red Velvet Snow Ball album, from the surreal art on its sleeve to the cake-flavored snow cone that gave the mind-expanding record its name. Red Velvet Snow Ball was recorded in a much different setting than the festive full-length that came before it, however. Starting a few months prior to the fall 2010 release of Beauregard, Pepper Rabbit toured North America several times over and tracked new songs in two-week spurts at Ryan Hadlock's secluded barnyard studio. The calming breaks in Pepper Rabbit's hectic schedule helped keep frontman Xander Singh and drummer Luc Laurent focused. But more importantly, it resulted in their most collaborative work yet, incorporating influences from several generations, from Portishead to David Bowie and Supertramp to Jamie Lidell. Stepping outside a standard guitar, bass, drums setup certainly didn't hurt. While Luc's main focus is the rhythm section, Xander's interest in varying instruments came from working at a vintage music store. Incorporating around 11 instruments - including ukuleles, clarinet, horns and a striking array of dusty analog synths - the Pepper Rabbit sound can be described as a loose brand of psychedelic pop music, rounded out by Xander's deftly-layered loops and a third touring member on bass and synths (currently NOLA native Jonathan Allen).