Brothers share a bond like no other. No matter the distance, it manifests aloud and unspoken all at once, representing a connection at a blood level and beyond. As such, the bond between Norma Jean vocalist Cory Brandan and his brother Matthew Putman operates as the beating heart of orphantwin. Shaking cinematic soundscape architecture with fits of metallic intensity and unexpected melodic bliss, the Arkansas-based duo uncork uncanny creative chemistry on their 2022 debut, Future Classic [Solid State].
“This is a brothers project,” affirms Cory. “Matthew and I look alike. Our voices and mannerisms are very similar. We’re only a year apart in age, so people have always referred to us as twins. orphantwin is the idea your reflection is a twin of you in another world. It’s about brothers.”
orphantwin quietly materialized over the past few years. During the recording of Norma Jean’s All Hail in 2019, Matthew contributed heavily as a co-writer, co-producer, percussionist, and engineer. Among his contributions, they collaborated on the opener “Orphan Twin.” When the world shut down in 2020, Cory and Matthew resumed writing together. It naturally morphed into its own beast as they progressed.
“Matthew came in as a ghost member on All Hail, and he really saved the record,” recalls Cory. “When the Pandemic started, we said, ‘We might as well make some music together.’ We thought we were writing for Norma Jean, but we trailed off into another world and made our own thing. It was fun to do whatever we wanted in the studio. The songs worked as a two-piece. The idea was to do something short. There’s a lot of sampling and stretching audio. We didn’t expect anything. There were no rules.”
On a whim, they showed the demos to Solid State and landed a deal. They finished what would become Future Classic in Springfield, MO with Norma Jean bassist Michael Palmquist behind the board as producer in 2022. Now, they introduce orphantwin with the single “Deathsurf.” An eerie sample snaps into a menacing guitar riff as Cory’s screams tear through the focused onslaught. The momentum reaches its crest with a pummeling and cathartic groove.
“I had this vivid dream I couldn’t get out of my head,” he explains. “A giant wave comes over the tree line, and I’m trying to get people inside to safety. I turn around, and there’s an even bigger wave behind it. The second wave covers the sky and blacks out the sun. Before I can do anything, I wake up. You see videos of someone surfing a tsunami, and it’s like this person is hovering. It was inspiring. You’re terrified, but you’re going to ride it out anyway. I think back on the dream like, ‘Man, I should’ve surfed that shit!’”
Then, there’s “Headphones or Die.” Distortion groans between vulnerable verses punctuated by glitchy percussion. The hypnotic hook teeters on this shaky ground as warm piano takes hold in the track’s final breath.
“It’s like a grungy garage band playing over a highly sampled dark pop song,” smiles Cory. “It was totally different for us.”
Future Classic reaches its climax on “Hominy.” For the first time, Cory and Matt perform on a track with their other brothers Adam [piano] and Tristan [French horn] (his childhood Halloween photo also graces the cover). On the track, creaky clean guitar underscores an emotionally charged vocal performance underscored by this familial sonic interplay.
“This was definitely a brothers song,” he goes on. “Every time I tell my wife I wrote a song, she asks, ‘Is it about me?’ So, I wanted to finally say, ‘Yes, it is about you’. This is a love song to her. Hominy is made from maize like field corn. It takes 24 hours to get that hard shell off before it can be edible. It’s an interesting allegory to me. My wife has boiled off this hard shell exterior I have.”
In the end, orphantwin welcome everyone into the family on Future Classic.
“My goal is to create escapism,” Cory leaves off. “I love it when art helps you get away from all of the worries of your life or the world. There’s no agenda. Lyrically, it’s all open to interpretation. So, ride the wave.”
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