SON Estrella Galicia: My New Band Believe

My New Band Believe’s debut album began as a fever dream. Delirious in a Chinese hotel room, Cameron Picton was battling through the worst of a sudden illness when he was overcome by flashes of weird imagery and loose ribbons of scrambled text. The musician would later salvage and shape some of these fragments into songs, but the one that lodged most
clearly in his mind was the odd phrase, “My New Band Believe.” When it came time to christen his solo project there was no decision to be made; this unwieldy assemblage of words had to be his signature.

Picton would be the first to admit that he sometimes cringes over the name, sometimes finding it cheesy and earnest, questionably self-aware, not even fully grammatically correct. But in other respects, he’s never doubted its odd brilliance. My New Band Believe works as a reintroduction
and a fresh start, both hyping up its author while acknowledging the collective effort that went into its making. It also serves as an open invitation, a subtle nod that if a listener is willing to meet the music on its own terms, they’ll be rewarded for taking a flying leap into the dark.