The Great American Novel

Description

Following 2019's critically-acclaimed sophomore album, I Spent the Winter Writing Songs About Getting Better, Proper. is making their return with The Great American Novel.

"The Great American Novel is a concept album about how Black genius, specifically my own, goes ignored, relentlessly contested, or just gets completely snuffed out before it can flourish," vocalist Erik Garlington said. "This record is a concept album that's meant to read like a book; every song is a chapter following the protagonist through their 20s. Imagine a queer, Black Holden Caufield-type coming up in the 2010s."

The result is an album that is both lyrically and musically heavy, the former something fans have come to expect from Garlington's unflinchingly honest lyrical content, but the latter something that'll be refreshingly new. Channeling the heavier music he listened to during his adolescence - from post-hardcore outfit At the Drive-In to progressive metal band System of a Down - Garlington and the rest of Proper. - bassist Natasha Johnson and drummer Elijah Watson - push themselves in ways they haven't before, culminating in an ambitious project that showcases the new sonic territory the band is heading in.

Recorded by Bartees Strange in early 2021 and mixed/mastered by Brian DiMeglio, TGAN is made up of 14 songs, with three of them to be singles dropped throughout the course of the album's release: "Huerta," "Milk and Honey," and "Red, White and Blue." From the former exploring Garlington's Mexican heritage to the latter being a commentary on the imbalance between the United States' everyday citizens and elite class, the tracks reflect the overall tone of TGAN: abrasive, powerful, and beautifully poignant.

"At the end of the day, what I wanted to do with this record is take Proper. in a direction that would surprise people on first listen, but end up making complete sense on the second or third listen. I think a lot of bands tend to go more pop but I wanted to make something both challenging and undeniably catchy," Garlington said. "It all goes back to black genius and how it's ingested by the predominantly cishet, white male crowd tuning in. If they're going to be a voyeur to the black experience, I wanted to strip away all the cheeky song titles, lyrical inside jokes, and optimistic singalongs. I want them to hear this record and learn about our identity crises, our aimlessness, how many friends and family we know that's dead or in jail by 25. How, at eight we were told we were gifted but by 11 we were told we're dangerous."

Proper. is ending out the year with a short tour with The Wonder Years. 2022 will be the year of The Great American Novel.

Proper. is:

Erik Garlington: Lead Singer, Guitarist (He/Him Pronouns)
Natasha Johnson: Second Singer, Bassist (She/Her Pronouns)
Elijah Watson: Drummer (He/They Pronouns)