Scott Reitherman was planning to record the second Pillar Point album at home in Seattle, when he received an
unexpected invitation -- extended backstage in Phoenix after opening for of Montreal -- to cut it at Kevin Barnes’
home studio in Athens, Georgia.

“I couldn’t believe it to be honest,” says Reitherman. “I was overwhelmed; we’re halfway through the tour and I’m
already having the time of my life.”

Riding high from the news, the former Throw Me the Statue frontman devoted the next few months to crafting
demos that would bring the solemn but sprightly dance-pop sound found on his self-titled debut into full bloom
on his sophomore full-length.

Once those were ready, Reitherman traveled to Barnes’ house for a month to eat, sleep, and record -- often in
the late evening and early morning -- alongside such guest musicians as drummer Cameron Gardner (Washed
Out) and percussionist Philip Mayer (Kishi Bashi). With the arrangements and basic recordings for Marble Mouth
firmly in place, Reitherman fleshed out the vocals and lyrics for the full-length over the next six weeks in New
Orleans.

“New Orleans was the most meditative and mysterious part of making the record,” he explains. “I wanted to sink
into that city and scrutinize the romantic southern sojourn.”

“I knew I’d return to Seattle with a finished record,” he continues, “but the big unknown of what the new
environment and new collaborators would impart onto the finished record really influenced how wide open
and exciting the writing process felt. In those months leading up to going down South I just had fun rolling the
question around in my head; what would this record that Kevin and I make together sound like?”

The result — recorded and mixed by engineer Drew Vandenberg (Toro Y Moi, Deerhunter, of Montreal) — speaks
for itself as loudly as the records Reitherman blasted in his childhood bedroom, from the twitchy post-punk
of Talking Heads to the Top 40 takeovers of Michael and Janet Jackson. It’s more than a mere nostalgia trip,
however; much like the red-blooded dance party that is Pillar Point’s live show, Marble Mouth is a therapeutic
sweat lodge of bold drum beats and lean synth lines that layer and wrap each song in kinetic skeletons.
Featuring a hybrid approach to the presentation of its heavyweight pop hooks, the album plants one foot firmly
in the ‘80s, with the other exploring the outer realm of ultramodern electronic music. Meanwhile, sun-baked
samples and vapor-trailed verses allude to everything from LCD Soundsystem to Broadcast, with Pillar Point’s
surface-level gravitas hiding in plain sight, as sharp as ever.

With its sparkling odes to Seattle’s famous rain clouds (“Gloomsday”), long-distance relationships (“Part Time
Love,” “Dove”), and New Orleans and Athens themselves (“Lafayette,” “Black Fly on a White Wall”), Marble Mouth
is catchy and compelling in equal measure and about as honest as a pop record gets. “Dance Like You Wanna
Die” indeed.