New Fumes
Daniel Huffman is the sole creative force of NEW FUMES. Huffman has lent his talents to a multitude of diverse bands. He was a member of the 90s space rock outfit Comet as well as the Bitches Brew-loving improv group Ghostcar, and he’s been a touring guitarist for the Polyphonic Spree. He’s been part of the touring entourage for and a collaborator with the Flaming Lips. With the release of NEW FUMES’ Bump and Assassination, Huffman finally gets the opportunity to submerge listeners into a sonic world purely of his own imagination.
"I have always been the guitar player in bands," says Huffman.
"Honestly I never really wanted to be the front figure of a band or a
singer. I just wanted to play guitar and add textures and melodies to
other people's songs."
Huffman's experiences with the Lips and the Spree inspired him to
begin focusing on structured material that was very different than his
past musical projects. He taught himself to program beats and create
arrangements on his laptop, and eventually he found himself singing
and writing songs in order to fully execute his vision.
Using the computer, guitar, keyboards, vocals and any number of
various gadgets and noisemakers, Huffman creates dense yet playful pop
soundscapes that feel like a modern take on the off-center
mischievousness of Warm Jets/Tiger Mountain-era Eno. The drumbeats of
album opener "On a Ship, Under a Bus" resemble the angular rhythm
blasts of This Heat more than anything you'd hear on a typical
laptop-based album. On "Teeth of the Sun," an ever-shifting artillery
of synths and processed sounds hop around each other without feeling
cluttered or heavy-handed. On tracks such as "Don't Be So Paranoid"
and "Millennium Crux," Huffman’s vocals weave trance-inducing melodic
chants that serve to unify the sundry buzzes, bubbles and blasts
underneath.
NEW FUMES is not so much a one-man band, but rather a one-man
multi-media installation. With a live show that features video
projections for each song, Huffman’s attention to detail provides an
infinitely-dimensional experience for the listener on record and on
stage. Much like the multi-colored vinyl that Huffman hand-poured for
Bump and Assassination’s pressing, the album is the sound of colors
running together. Simultaneously evoking beauty, fun, chaos and
wisdom, NEW FUMES has created an artistic adventure served on a pop
platter.
