Cones, dropped their debut album Pictures of Pictures in 2019 via Dangerbird Records (Sebadoh, Swervedriver). Today, they have shared a new video for their single “Outside.” The video, an interactive, 360-degree VR music video featuring coding and design by Michael and illustrations by Jonathan (who is known for his animated videos for Erykah Badu, Toro Y Moi, Eleanor Friedberger, Delicate Steve, and more)–perfectly captures those feelings. “Creating the video for ‘Outside’ was an exercise in escapism. We wanted to construct an absurd and colorful dream world that we could visit any time while stuck in our homes,” the brothers explain.

The idea for this video came from a previous collaboration called Bob’s Room, another immersive 360-degree VR creation from Cones, but this time an app and a game that explores the many layers of Pictures of Pictures, enhancing the visual and sonic experience of the record. “We approached the video for ‘Outside’ with the same mentality as we had while creating Bob’s Room,” says Jonathan. “Just trying to broaden our collaborations and create something neither one of us could have made on our own.” Bob’s Room is available now as an app for iOS and Android.

With touring on hold, Cones have been staying busy curating an on-going livestream min-festival with their own Honeymoon Suite Studio in LA. The series, Room Service, has featured the likes of Martin Courtney, Hand Habits, Jerry Paper, SadGirl, Dent May, Shannon Lay, Frankie Cosmos, Hazel English, and many more.

The Rosens only began making music together a few years ago, through touring with The Fiery Furnaces’ Eleanor Friedberger as both her backing band and members of her opener Icewater, this Cones debut is a long time coming. After releasing a handful of singles, the band went into a friend’s studio to collaborate with a producer for the first time and recorded what they thought would be their first LP. Ultimately, the album did not feel to the brothers like a Cones record, so they returned to their home studio and started from scratch. Now, the album which offers up an intoxicating blend of shimmering psychedelic exploration and muscular pop craftsmanship, will be released this Fall.

“When I was sixteen, though, I lost a friend to suicide, and I started writing all these poems and songs as a way to deal with it.” The brothers began to make music separately – Jonathan in punk band Cardboard, and Michael performing in New York indie band Icewater. The two came together musically for the first time following the tragic loss of Michael’s Icewater bandmate, Grant, and – while no one could ever replace him – Jonathan was asked to join the band. Icewater led to the brothers deciding to make something for themselves, and the end result is Cones, named after Jonathan’s favorite color: traffic cone orange. “Beyond the ‘cuteness’ of being brothers in a band, there was this unconditional love and understanding that allowed us to create better things together than either one of us could alone,” says Michael.