10: Reworks by Hotel Neon

“I could hear everything, together with the hum of my hotel neon. I never felt sadder in my life.” - Jack Kerouac, 'On the Road' (1957)

In chapter 13 of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” we find Sal in a Los Angeles hotel room with his new girlfriend, Terry, soon after they’ve decided to hitchhike back to New York with the $10 they share between them. Staring out the window in a sleepless fit, Sal observes a domestic dispute across the street: the humming neon sign of the hotel is an audible element amidst the police’s questioning, family’s sobbing, and city’s howling sirens, all of them blending together in an oddly poignant moment.

This idea of sound adding context and emotion to human experiences is the foundation of Hotel Neon. The project formed in 2012 under far less desperate conditions than Sal’s, but it has always been anchored in the practice of recording musical responses to the current moment. The chord progression of “A Lament,” for instance, was recorded in the hours following the breaking news out of Sandy Hook on December 14, 2012. Ever since then, we have continued to create soundtracks for specific settings and situations in our lives.

“Hotel Neon 10: Reworks” is a reflection on the 10th anniversary of our debut self-titled album, which was released on July 30, 2013 in a batch of 100 cassettes. Initially a loose collection of minimal drone experiments with no intention for follow-up after the tapes ran out, Hotel Neon has morphed into the central musical identity for each of us, leading to friendships, experiences, and purpose that we could never have imagined at the time.

This is not simply a remaster or remix; HN10 has been entirely reworked from the ground up. You will notice that some of the essential elements and structures from the original songs come through, but we made a concerted effort to build on those early ideas and present a new album with our current tools, techniques, and experience.

We deeply appreciate your support, and thank you for listening.

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