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Exercise1 Records are fast becoming a name you can equate with quality, already home to the skewed genius of Jeremy Warmsley and The London Beach - they're latest signing A Million Billion doesn't disappoint.
Sharing the aforementioned acts knack for merging leftfield sounds to classic pop conventions, A Million Billion's debut single VOLCANO SEASON is like a breath of fresh air. A three minute pop song at heart, VOLCANO SEASON bounces along on a flurry of upbeat piano chords, orchestral pop undertones and surreal sound waves - Ryan Smith's catchy melodies at the centre of it all, the heart and soul of the piece. A little bit Radiohead, a little bit Coldplay; A Million Billion are also equal parts The Beta Band and Ben Folds Five, exquisite stuff.
The downbeat atmospherics of AFRAID OF GHOSTS shows Ryan's darker leanings whilst PLANES LAND is an indie rocker that hits you like Hard Fi doing battle with Radiohead.
A rare coming together of innovation, originality, ideas and pop music, VOLCANO SEASON is an exquisite sounding single. This heralds A Million Billion as someone you really should be keeping a very close eye and ear on.

New York's Ryan Smith, aka A Million Billion will be releasing his debut UK single VOLCANO SEASON on March 27th 2006 through Exercise1 Records (Jeremy Warmsley, The London Beach). It's so damn catchy, that it has already turned up on the playlist at Xfm!
You may be more familiar with Ryan Smith for his other recent musical achievements. As well as fulfilling duties as keyboardist with the ethereal orchestra-pop maestros The Silent League (which also features members of Mercury Rev and Interpol), he can also boast credits as a remixer for Bloc Party and Public Enemy (Chuck D of Public Enemy recently describing the results as "beyond anything describable - at the same time the most incredible and worst sonic experience in some time") Yet it is in his guise, under the name of A Million Billion, that Ryan truly comes into his own. He released his first full length solo album TODAY WE LOVE YOU in August 2005 through his own Filthy Schoolgirls label in the US, following up June 2005's FILTHY SCHOOLGIRLS EP. This body of work was described by the New York Times as "a richly textured electronic score...layered with buzzes, whispers, chimes and a rich assortment of soothing and anxious sounds".
It is this richly textured, soothing sound that forms the heart of VOLCANO SEASON. A track that takes the electronica reference points of his previous material, but instead turns to a more live band-based ethic, including a supporting cast of credible musicians, resulting in Ryan's finest pop moment to date.

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