Tom Conneely & Birds of Paradise

Tom Conneely & Birds of Paradise are a San Francisco based band that released their first record “Cappuccino Springs” in the fall of 2022. The band followed up with the home-recorded “Sun Child” less than a year later, and has toured throughout the west coast, from Los Angeles to Portland to Boise and many places in between, including a recent performance at Offbeat Festival in Reno. The Birds are led in collaboration between guitarist and vocalist Tom Conneely and bassist Alois Cerbu, home-recording and engineering both “Sun Child” and their forthcoming record “New Kind Palace.”

“New Kind Palace” is Tom Conneely & Birds of Paradise’s second full length album, though in many ways, it might as well be the first. The release of the “Sun Child” EP in September 2023 marked a radical shift in both substance and form, as the desire for perfection and clarity was abandoned for muddled drum machines and lyrics that dealt with the painfully obvious facets of life. “New Kind Palace” builds on the foundations of “Sun Child” - drawing on its hissy intimacy while exceeding its through line, balancing tactile analog qualities with inventive electronic elements all while retaining an impressionistic lyrical focus against the trance-like qualities reminiscent of Arthur Russell and the lo-fi melodic guitars of The Cleaners of Venus.

After a false starts in ill-fitting studios, the ten songs of “New Kind Palace” were recorded in a variety of bedrooms and makeshift spaces that belay the music’s homespun qualities and intimacy. The recording and production process was entirely one of self-discovery, as handing off the various parts of the production process, from tracking to mixing and mastering, became untenable with retaining the honesty the work required. Mostly tracked to quarter inch tape, the music that constitutes “New Kind Palace” is a testament to self-discovery and trust in one’s self, while uncovering and facing head-on the simultaneous hysteria and transcendence of our inner worlds.

"New Kind Palace" by Tom Conneely & Birds of Paradise will be released by Kestrel Records on March 21, 2025.