premiere: alan charmer’s “call u soon” finds the junior astronomers frontman charting new depths

Best known as the firebrand vocalist of indie / punk quartet Junior Astronomers, Terrence Richard’s latest project finds the singer exploring his minimalist pop streak. That’s not to say he’s dialed down the emotional honesty or rawness that Junior Astronomers have made their name on. The new single from Richard’s Alan Charmer solo project sneaks a difficult conversation about police violence with his mom into an unbearably catchy relationship drama. It’s a song whose depth expands fractally beneath a chilled out piano and falsetto-driven melody. How the term “pop punk” came to apply to the derivative reactionaries of the Vandals and not bold adventures in melody and content like Alan Charmer is beyond me. On “Call U Soon,” Terrence Richard’s gift for making the personal political (and vice versa) hits new heights.

As he explains: “I love pop songs that have dual meanings, so I wanted this song to sound like one thing but actually mean something totally different. This one was harder to write because it’s based on some serious conversations I had with a loved one. They were really worried about me at the time for good reason, and I never really handled the situation properly. They were watching a lot of what was going on in the world and it rightfully freaked them out.”

Keep up with Alan Charmer on Instagram and Twitter @alancharmer.