Merging the North Virginian penchant for melody with the explosiveness of Chicago rock, Brice Woodall writes between worlds. Stretched between the Windy City and his east coast roots, his music draws upon the musical idiosyncracies of each region, peaking in the center as a distinct brand of muscular, synth-tipped indie pop. His latest release Id Escaped was conceived in Chicago as a series of acoustic bedroom demos. With the help of longtime collaborators Trevor Bittinger and Mark Lewis, they grew into fully fledged rock tracks. The two Richmond natives had formerly been active within DC’s brutal post-hardcore scene, and their history can be heard within a predeliction for landing huge guitar moves and ferocious percussive attacks on the EP. Woodall’s signature drum machines skitter against full-blooded rock orchestration as they coil together into tight, infectious progressions.

The roots of Woodall’s music lie as deeply within electronica as they do within his more immediately traceable predecessors: the ’90s indie rock innovations of The Flaming Lips, Grandaddy, Sparklehorse, and Radiohead. From behind a collection of drum machines, Woodall mines the depths of underground dubstep to bolster his swirling melodic creations.

Writing from dreams, Woodall has transcribed a journal of psychic detachment, of running from onesself through haunted subconscious spaces. His lyrics craft narratives of paranoia and isolation in a world where one is always being watched. But amid the dystopia arise moments of relief in companionship and the hope of escape. Every move of the record is suspended by Woodall’s unwaveringly sincere falsetto, carrying lyrics that pulse from the delicate enigma of a fully imagined world. Id Escaped follows the struggle of the conscious mind through constantly encroaching danger on an engine of sparkling pop hooks and lushly layered melody.

Id Escaped will be released on mp3 and vinyl this July, 2011. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.