Ray Seraphin is a Bay Area  songwriter and musician who builds “raucous, large-scale rock songs, then hushes them to ghostliness around intimate, murmuring vocals that tickle the inside of your ear”. He was part of Talkies, Mean Jolene, Glitz, Lenz and Impediments before going (almost) solo as R.E. Seraphin. His debut album was Tiny Shapes (Paisley Shirt Records/Mt.St.Mtn.) in 2020 and a couple of EPs preceded and followed it: A Room Forever EP (Paisley Shirt Records/Mt.St.Mtn.), in 2020 and Swingshift EP (Mt.St.Mtn./Dandy Boy Records/Safe Suburban Home) in 2022. Fool’s Mate is Seraphin’s second-full length under his own name. It was recorded with Jason Quever of the Papercuts at his home studio in Crockett, California. Seraphin had been playing with a full band as the lockdown eased, and this album reflects the live chemistry that he’s developed with his crew: guitarist Joel Cusumano (Sob Stories, Body Double), drummer Daniel Pearce (Al Harper, Reds, Pinks, & Purples), bass player Josh Miller (Chime School, Extra Classic), and keyboardist Luke Robbins. Seraphin, Pearce and Miller recorded the basic tracks live, then added Robbins’ keyboards in overdubs. In addition, Seraphin’s frequent collaborator Owen Adair Kelley of Sleepy Sun contributed acoustic and slide guitars, while his wife Hannah Moriah sang background harmonies. “The lyrics are meant to evoke a sense of corporeality — there are references to skin, sweat, teeth, and breath throughout the album, which I intended to unsettle the listener,” says Seraphin. “On the surface, they are love songs but there’s a suggestion of something more ominous.”

What He Says: “The last song I wrote for Fool’s Mate, which I felt needed another straightforward pop moment. I had worked out the chorus melody on my commute one day and “I will not be bound” was the placeholder lyric. I ended up sticking with the line and building the song from there. I like using declarative or imperative statements in choruses that are ambiguous in nature. Bound could mean being tied, limited or restricted; it could also mean movement – leaping or being bound in a direction. Should I stay or should I go?“

“I nicked the title from the Dorothy B. Hughes novel The Expendable Man and wrote a jilted lover narrative around it. There are a lot of love-as-business transaction jokes here. I try to include comic elements in my music when possible; I think playing rock music in 2024 necessitates a sense of humor. I believe the initial inspiration came from watching Paul Westerberg solo performances. He can be pretty funny.“

His Mixtape: “Sometimes I like to think about the color of music. I find color to be a useful tool for songwriting inspiration – specifically, creating music to evoke a specific color or palette. What does color “sound” like? What does yellow in particular sound like? Sunflowers and lemons are yellow – what sound do they make? How can you then transmute that sound into songs? That can be tricky. Guitarist Eddie Philips famously referred to The Creation’s music as “red with purple flashes” but I think their music is more green with pink polka dots if anything.
I also feel color can give shape or identity to a project. Since I’ve started releasing music under my own name, I’ve made sure each release has a distinct palette. For instance, my first album Tiny Shapes has red, white, and blue artwork. Earnest, crisp, patriotic. My new album Fool’s Mate has black and ivory artwork. Existential, oblique, mutinous. Exploring color in lyrics can be fun and provide the listener with a sense of place. I even like it when a songwriter tells you what color the song is in the title. And on that note, here are some colorful songs I’ve been enjoying:

Green Pajamas – Green Pajamas

I recently discovered this band of paisley underground-inspired goofballs. This song came out in 1984 and they seem to have remained active throughout the 40 years since, delivering 30 albums in that span. There’s a disarming level of whimsy here, best illustrated by the chorus refrain of “she’s as pretty as the Queen of Sheba/I love her in her green pajamas.” I’m a big fan of bands that name themselves after one of their songs, and the Green Pajamas are no exception. Excited to explore their other 29 albums.

Flowertown – Bitter Orange

Mike Ramos (Tony Jay) and Karina Gill (Cindy) are an exceptionally prolific duo based out of San Francisco. This song is from their latest release as Flowertown, Tourist Language. Flowertown’s music is impossibly delicate and intimate – almost evanescent – and this is probably the closest to a “big pop” moment on the record. I love that it’s structured as a duet, but their voices mirror each other’s to the point where it’s difficult to parse who’s singing what. I like hearing that level of enmeshment between musicians, where you almost can’timagine them separate from each other.

The Nightcrawlers – The Little Black Egg

This is one of my favorite songs of all time. There’s something so beguiling and moving about it. So many questions: what is the egg exactly? Why do Lee and Mary want it? What are we to make of the narrator’s paranoid delusions? There are a few interpretations – some have claimed the egg is a metaphor for miscegenation. According to its songwriter, though, this song is an expression of childhood and should be taken literally. I’m not convinced. (Who’s the paranoid one now?)

Pernice Brothers – The Purple Rain

I don’t know much about the Pernice Brothers but this song popped up in my Twitter feed and I enjoy the fragility of the singer’s delivery. Ostensibly, this is a tribute song to David Berman, another songwriter I don’t know much about. There are a lot of production decisions here that I normally object to (like the triple whammy of horns, strings, and choir), but I think they work to create a ‘60s baroque pop effect – or maybe even recall Pleasures of the Harbor-era Phil Ochs.

The dB’s – Big Brown Eyes

One of my most obvious influences. Stands for Decibels is a foundational record for me and Peter Holsapple is an all-time musical hero. While I’m partial to a few other compositions on this album, I think “Big Brown Eyes” encapsulates what this band is about: sharp, clever melodies and frenetic-yet-fine-tuned musicianship. This record is being remastered and
reissued right now, so I’m cheating by including it as one of the “new” records for this list.

Edith Frost – Blueish Bells

My bandmates introduced me to Edith Frost on a recent trip to LA. I’ve mostly been listening to her last two albums – especially Wonder Wonder – but have been working my way through her discography. I love the almost psychedelic textures of this song; the use of fuzz guitar is particularly devastating. The guitar appears unexpectedly, fleetingly but is also punishingly high in the mix – you almost start to dread when it will crop up again.

Yea-Ming & The Rumours – Ruby

I was originally going to choose Aimee Mann’s Red Vines for my red entry, but I remembered my friend Yea-Ming released this single a couple weeks ago. And, no offense to Aimee, I like Yea-Ming even more. This is seemingly a diss track (“I cannot give a fuck about Ruby”), delivered in Yea-Ming’s inimitably friendly way. Her new album I Can’t Have it All is beautiful and I give a fuck about it.

Norma Tanega – Time Becomes Gray

Norma Tanega is one of the more compelling stories in folk music: a queer Panamanian-Filipina woman who worked in a mental hospital, rubbed elbows with Dylan in Greenwich Village, scored a top 40 hit with a novelty song, had a years-long affair with Dusty Springfield, and later became an avant-garde percussionist. She was also from Vallejo, where I’ve lived for the last six years, so I feel like I need to shout her out when given
the opportunity. She’s mostly associated with her arch, playful early work (e.g. “Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog” and “You’re Dead”) but this song is earnest to an almost unnerving degree. Take this couplet: “Friend of my body, your need I can feel/Night ephemeral, yet concretе and real.”

Fool’s Mate is out now on Take a Turn Records/Safe Suburban Home. Look HERE for more information on R.E. Seraphin.