Splendor Never Dies

December Friend

debut release
Splendor Never Dies

Cover Art by Luis Diaz
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Splendor Never Dies is the debut release from
Minneapolis-based December Friend, a new
indie-rock project featuring songs written by Joel Leviton of Minneapolis band Circus of the West. It features 10 tracks with influences spanning from Americana to psychedelia, with a modern flare. Each song tells a story, they are grounding, yet dreamy. Themes include celebrating the often overlooked beauty in a complex world and gratitude for the small joys in life, both of which came into greater focus over the last few years.

Photo credit Tzivia Stein
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Bio
December Friend was born out of the pandemic when Leviton
reached out to friends Jeff Victor (Minneapolis-musician
extraordinaire) and John Wlaysewski (of Brooklyn-based band Late Cambrian) asking if they wanted to collaborate on a new project. Thankfully, they said yes. All songs were recorded remotely in home studios in Minneapolis and Brooklyn and with that December Friend came together. Leviton says, “For me – it’s all about the song. A song should give something to the listener, an observation, an inspiration, a feeling, a memory, a reflection. A song is meant to be an interaction between the writer and the listener; the writer can introduce the conversation, and then it’s up to the listener to interpret the song and find where and how it fits their life. My goal with a song is no filler – every word and phrase is intentional.”

Songs

Textures (3:39) (Lyrics)
Should We Be Dancing (4:16)* (Lyrics)
Slow Smiles (3:26)* (Lyrics)
Always Something Special (3:19)* (Lyrics)
Every Flower Every Scar (4:55) (Lyrics)
Rise Like a Song (4:12)* (Lyrics)
B’s Magic Sound (5:04) (Lyrics)
Paul’s Bike is Free (4:09) (Lyrics)
Skater Kid (4:47) (Lyrics)
Ghosts in the Wind (5:18) (Lyrics)

All tracks FCC clean
Recommended tracks 2, 3, 4, 6
All songs written by Joel Leviton
Produced by Jeff Victor and John Wlaysewski
Mixed and mastered by Blake Eiseman

Press about Leviton’s prior band
“Love Always still stands out as one of the most emotionally potent songs to reach the Twin Cities in recent memory.”
-Jerard Fagerberg, City Pages, Local Frames:
Top MN Videos Blog, August 7, 2018

“Circus of the West pour a lot of emotion into their music, writing from a place of experience – of loss, joy, sadness, ageing, generational shifts – and they craft their songs with beauty and power, subtlety and grace.”
-Jim McGuinn