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Today we’re pleased to join forces with 8X8 for the premiere of their new single, “Spring Airlines.” A piano-driven rocker with a psychedelic twist, the track introduces listeners to a fictitious airline capable of transporting passengers to an idyllic time and place that may exist only within the soul. Blending the melodic sophistication of ’70s pop with the spirit of classic rock, 8X8 deliver a dreamy, kaleidoscopic journey filled with sweetly dissonant piano chords, bluesy guitar leads, and an irresistible sense of wanderlust.
The song’s lyrics unfold like a piece of lysergic advertising, promising an escape into a world where imagination and memory blur together. “It’s your love letter to the world / You stitched it seam by seam / It’s your love letter to the world / A dream inside a dream,” Steinberg sings, conjuring vivid images of peacock-colored trains and gentle cloudbursts. It’s a surreal invitation to leave the ordinary behind and travel somewhere that feels less like a physical destination and more like a place we’ve been carrying inside ourselves all along.
What makes 8X8’s music particularly fascinating is the unlikely partnership behind it. Singer-songwriter Lane Steinberg, based in New York City, and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Alex Khodchenko, who lives in Kyiv, Ukraine, have spent the past 16 years building a remarkably prolific creative relationship despite never having met in person or spoken each other’s native language. Connected through an intuitive musical understanding, the trans-Black Sea duo have released six albums together, with their latest, Immaculate Constellation, serving as the first installment of a planned double album.
Their unusual arrangement seems to have become part of the project’s creative magic. “We’re unburdened by the things of terrestrial relationships. It feels like we’re just floating in the cosmos, and the ‘Immaculate Constellation’ is our work environment,” Steinberg explains with a laugh. “I just made that up! It’s almost a running joke that we don’t really know anything about each other, but we don’t want to break the spell.”
That sense of freedom and creative mystery runs throughout “Spring Airlines.” Rather than being constrained by geography, language, or the usual expectations of collaboration, 8X8 have built a musical universe entirely their own. With its breezy arrangement, sophisticated songwriting, and psychedelic flights of fancy, the single offers a captivating glimpse into Immaculate Constellation and the wonderfully unconventional partnership that continues to fuel the duo’s imagination.
