Orindal

Advance Base

About

Advance Base is the story-song synth-pop project of Chicago, IL singer/songwriter Owen Ashworth (formerly of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone). Using a two-handed arsenal of electric piano, Omnichord, samplers, effect pedals & drum machines, Ashworth builds minimalist, heavy-hearted, & nostalgia-obsessed ballads around his conversational baritone. The warm, electronic sound of Advance Base has been described as "lo-fi," "depressed" & "weirdly uplifting."

Horrible Occurrences is the title of the forthcoming Advance Base album (out December 6, 2024 on Run For Cover / Orindal Records), and there is truth in advertising. In these songs—all centered around a fictional town called Richmond and featuring an interlinked cast of characters—you will hear stories of death and disappearance, climactic confrontations and unsolved mysteries. “Richmond is just this place where all the bad memories live,” Ashworth says with a laugh, and nearly 30 years into his songwriting career, none of his records have packed quite the emotional intensity of this one. And yet something alchemical happens in the telling of these tales. Like a masterful short story collection, Horrible Occurrences is inspiring and alive, idiosyncratic and electric, pulling you closer with each word.

“It’s with no exaggeration we describe Owen Ashworth as one of the most consistent and important songwriters in contemporary indie music. From the earliest Casiotone For the Painfully Alone demos to most recent Advance Base single ‘Little Sable Point Lighthouse‘, Owen has crafted a catalogue of characters and circumstances with few rivals in the modern era. His is an ever evolving body of work which stands out in its deftness and humility and empathy and care, bringing to life individuals from across the spectrum of human experience while remaining unerringly attuned to the tender, fallible heart at the centre of each.” - Various Small Flames

"A Raymond Carver short story collection set to music by a Joan of Arc-era OMD" - MOJO Magazine

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