Partisan Records Store

Vinyl LP includes Digital Download Card. What A Tease is the by-product of being in love with someone close enough to feel, but too far to actually touch. Nico Yaryan (who’s based in Los Angeles) spent a significant amount of time just trying to get back to the girl he loved…she just so happened to live in Amsterdam. As their relationship unfolded in the face of geographical and financial adversity, so did the songs that would become What A Tease.

Opening with the tattered allegory of “Old Gloria” and the lonely masochism of “You Belong to Me,” the record lets more than a little darkness surface. The agony of watching yourself fuck up a good thing became “Just Tell Me,” a brutal plea of much needed reassurance. While mistrusting the nature of his love led to “Witch Love,” there is an undercurrent of perseverance and determined tenderness throughout the album. Songs like the cavernous “Infinity” and, perhaps album-closers “Your Love Never Lets Me Down” and “I’ll Stay With You When You Die,” are drenched in a sincerity that speaks to devotion.

What A Tease was produced by Kevin Augunas (Lumineers, Nick Waterhouse, Richard Swift, Cold War Kids) at Fairfax Recordings in Los Angeles, CA (FKA Sound City).