Ahead of the release of his new album The Hours and The Times, Lawrence Kim has shared new single “Rodeo”, featuring backing vocals from Emma Tricca and Rachel Cox (Oakley Hall). The LP drops on May 15th via streaming platforms.

In the mid-90s Kim found himself in Edinburgh ostensibly at university but also playing in the acclaimed BMX Bandits, including their 1996, Kim Fowley produced Theme Park LP for Creation Records. In the 2000s, back in New York, he he fronted power poppers The Amber Smith, before masterminding the critically-acclaimed synthpop act Scam Avenue in the late ‘10s/early ‘20s, while also finding time to be part of wunderkind chart threat (and Charli xcx collaborator) Ryn Weaver’s touring band.

Kim has always felt more at home being in a band. Reveling in the camaraderie. But finding himself settling into a post-lockdown solitary state, a solo album finally mentally felt right. “It’s an album about being alone—which isn’t the necessarily the same thing as being lonely,” Kim notes. “I didn’t set out to make an album around that, but that’s what I ended up with.”

Kim wrote, produced, arranged, played, and sang most of the album, but he wasn’t flying completely solo. “I decided to rope in as many pals as I could, to lend some variety to the proceedings. And thank God I did, because they give the songs a depth they wouldn’t have had otherwise.” Along with Tricca and Cox, Kim was joined in the studio at various points by drummer extraordinaire Kid Millions (Oneida), pedal steel player Eoin Russell (Songs:Ohia), singer/songwriter/filmmaker Alexandra Helgerson, sax ace Stephen Chen (Ghost Funk Orchestra, San Fermin), multi-instrumentalist Peter Hess (Philip Glass Ensemble), and Vincent D’Onofrio collaborator Dana Lyn.

Regarding the album title, Kim adds, “when you spend a lot of time by yourself, you become very aware of the passage of time. You’re able to be more present and notice little details that others might miss. And you’re more aware of your reactions to things. So the title could refer to a life seen as the sum of all those observations and feelings. A life measured in hours and times.”

Pre-order The Hours and The Times by Lawrence Kim HERE