For those unaware, the story of Explorer Tapes is a classic tale of popular music. Two guys from the Dallas/Fort Worth area take a life long friendship and decide to start a band.

They gather some additional talented musicians from the surrounding area, write some songs, play some shows, make some videos, then pack everyone in a van and drive to Los Angeles with the hope of getting signed to a publishing company, a record label, or even better, both.

This is, in fact, what happened to the group. Not long after reaching L.A., Max Townsley and Drew Erickson, aka Explorer Tapes, signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music.

After writing several songs with more established writers (David Baerwald, Dillon O’Brian, Steve Lindsey), the duo had the good fortune of having Keith Urban record their song Texas Time.

The group soon signed to Warner Records and were assigned hot producer Mike Elizondo, a protégé of Dr. Dre and known for his production of artists as varied as 50 Cent, Eminem, Carrie Underwood, Fiona Apple, and Twenty One Pilots.

The songs and recordings came together quickly and the album was more or less done in three weeks in January 2015.

After unforeseen circumstance, including a regime change at the label, the record stayed on the shelf at Warner’s for over six years, with no release in sight… until now!

Omnivore Recordings, in conjunction with Warner Records, is happy to finally announce the release of the debut album by Explorer Tapes. The eponymously titled collection contains 14 pop recordings on CD (12 on vinyl) including the original recording of Texas Time.

1. ALL DEPENDS ON YOU
2. TEXAS TIME
3. A GOOD FRIEND IS HARD TO FIND
4. JULIA
5. KIDS THESE DAYS
6. WASHED AWAY
7. CHANGE LOOKS GOOD ON YOU
8. RADIO
9. EVERYBODY’S CRAZY
10. MORE THAN A SONG CAN SAY
11. EASY TO LOVE
12. WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING
13. SUNSET STRIP [CD Only Bonus Track]
14 STILL LOVE LINDSAY [CD Only Bonus Track]

This quite brilliant, previously-unreleased album opens on the foot-tapping, ’80s synth and ’90s vocal ambiance of ALL DEPENDS ON YOU before bringing us their most renowned track, the gently twanging TEXAS TIME, and then we get the low key, melodic ballad A GOOD FRIEND IS HARD TO FIND, the veritably translucent, mid-’70s imbibed ballad JULIA, the piano-led KIDS THESE DAYS, and then we get both the buoyantly joyous WASHED AWAY and the summer breeze of CHANGE LOOKS GOOD ON YOU.

Next up is the beautiful, lush hipsway of my own personal favorite on this collection RADIO and that is itself backed by the ’00s-embibed ballad EVERYBODY’S CRAZY, and then we get the mid-tempo guitar ballad MORE THAN A SONG CAN SAY, the fun and perky, late ’60s-infused EASY TO LOVE, the finger-snapping delights of WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING, the album closing on the delightfully orchestrated, CD only bonus tracks SUNSET STRIP and STILL LOVE LINDSAY.

The freshness of the songs and the sparkling production by Elizondo make this record seem like a long, lost friend and at the same time, something brand new!

So, kick back, put the top down and crank up the tunes by Explorer Tapes… guaranteed to make you feel good all over!

Official CD Purchase Link