Reflection
Buy | Listen | Watch
1. First Do No Harm (4:54)
2. Our Daydream (4:10)
3. Talking to a Stranger (5:25)
4. Quicksand (4:37)
5. Androcles (4:25)
6. No Tattoo (3:59)
7. Belmonte (4:56)
8. 10,000 Flowers (4:31)
Liner Notes | Press Release
Kazyak returns with Reflection, the band’s third and first full-length release. Songwriter/guitarist Peter Frey calls Reflection “An attempt to create surreal, vivid, Dali-esque images with our sound — it’s a collection of outtakes, demos, and b-sides consistent with our history of not-trying-to-be-mainstream alternative rock. They’re all true songs of scenery seen, dreams dreamt, and feelings felt, enlivened by layers of musical and visual, psychefied experimentation.” The album fits right in to the band’s evolving catalog, following the band’s first release See the Forest EP in 2015, a pick-up-the-peices collection created after earlier music projects had ended abruptly, which was followed by the Happy Camping EP in 2017, a profession that the band had reached a steady, balanced state and was eager to carry on the musical collaboration.
SOUND
The album has an adventurous, restless attitude that detours into psychedelia. Even the odd meters feel tasteful and contribute to Kazyak’s creative ambition to push forward the limits of indie sound and songwriting. The LP blends a masterfully creative lineup that glues together electronic and acoustic drums, bass, guitars, and lush pockets of synth with Frey’s associative lyrics and someday-soon-will-be-nostalgic, maturing songwriting. The sound finds its roots in the 60s but has its eyes set on the future. Listeners will hear reminicings of Wilco, Yo La Tengo, Tame Impala, and Pink Floyd, while striving to craft a distinctly original sound of their own — attempting to replicate the uniqueness of the likes of Bob Dylan, Talking Heads, Gillian Welch, and the Grateful Dead.
INSPIRATION
Reflection was inspired by a trip Frey and his wife took to Chile and Argentina. The photography and video footage is primarily from the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile, featuring a bizarre, weathered, antiplano landscape with volcanoes, flamingos, salt flats, lagoons, wind turbines and the ALMA space observatory.
REVIEWS
“It is innovative and patiently original alt-rock, with mood-altering streams of ambience, surfacing synths, and psych-folk-ballad tints.” – Randy Radic 
“Kazyak defines chill with ‘Reflection’. The album has such purpose that a listener is practically forced to close their eyes and fade away into euphoria, allowing listeners to get lost in the moment.” – Jason DeMoe
Song of the Day (First Do No Harm) 11/2/2018 + Friday Five (Belmonte) 10/26/2018 – 89.3 the Current 
“Imagination is heard throughout, with a touch of retro prog, ala Pink Floyd, Kazyak achieves their goal of extending the boundaries of musical reach. Frey has a clear eyed way of writing about complicated emotions that’s, likewise, capable enough to use imagery in an understandable way.” – Mindy McCall 
“There’s no question the songs share an over-arching consistency despite exploring wildly different styles. The uniting element is their daring. Kazyak excels at fundamentals, but they use that bedrock musical command to marry seemingly disparate styles into a cohesive whole.” – Markus Druery 
“Kazyak recasts time-honored sounds in striking new ways, finding uses for folk song conventions you haven’t dreamed of. It’s jagged and distorted guitar, a strong presence of synthesizer, and a tender vocal lead, all with an acoustic tilt.” – John McCall 
“The precision of Frey’s writing has reached a new height. The songs, despite centering on the personal, reach out for the world. They are studies in musical contrast, in restraint, in deep phrasing that few others on the indie scene can match. Aptly titled, Reflection ultimately succeeds in reframing the influences the members pulled from their dads’ record collections.” – Jodi Marxbury 
“Wildly expansive, trippy and dreamlike but also gritty and grounded. They’re not just pushing the envelope of indie music, they’re tearing it up before it gets to the mailbox for safe delivery.” – Jonathan Widran 
“There’s everything on this album for fans of serious songwriting. Kazyak is a musical project that has simmered and guitarist/songwriter Peter Frey is just as talented lyrically as he is musically. The music has a cumulative effect, takes swings at firing your musical imagination, and brings strands together without jarring listeners. The songs never reveal all their cards straight out of the chute but contain countless bold flourishes, with stunning bass and synthesizer.” – Michael Stover
“An album with an immense beating heart and humanity present in every song. Frey captures all the regret, shaky hope, restitution, and abiding love we have for those we have lost due to our own follies and insecurities.” – Sebastian Cole 
“The band offers a stylistic grab bag, drawing inspiration from far-reaching influences, with sturdy footing. There’s a bit of Gillian Welch and a bit of John Lennon, threaded through with lyrical abstraction and haunting harmonies. The music is psychedelic, surreal, and woozy, like 60s rock and 70s folks at once. It is easy to fall into the dazed world of the lyrics, to imagine walking through a mirage-filled desert.” – Mariel Fechik
“Each song is more of a chapter on a surreal journey and no matter what this band explores there is a sense of belonging.” – Andrew Duncan, Selective Memory 
“Unquestionably impressed by the completeness of the band’s musical vision and how it leaves no base uncovered in its search for a definitive personal and collective statement. Few albums in 2018 impress me as much as this.” – Mark Druery 
