Born in the small town of Pine Plains, NY, Jesse Cafiero, the creative mastermind behind indie psych band Split Screens relocated to San Francisco where he started working as freelance bassist playing in a number of musical projects; but it was his interest in psychedelic music and his growing interest in the lap steel guitar that changed the course of his creative and professional life. And as a result Cafiero initially started his latest project, Split Screens as a solo project which would thematically “explore the tension between what we are and what we want to be.” In fact, on Split Screens’ debut EP, Cafiero played almost all the instruments on the EP with the assistance of Geneva Harrison (vibraphone) and Tycho’s Rory O’Connor (drums). 

However, on Split Screens’ latest effort, Before the Storm, Cafiero enlisted the assistance of the members of his live band – Debbie Neigher (keys), Kyle Kelly Yahner (percussion), and Rory O’Connor (drums) – to flesh out the sound which would wind up on the EP.  Thematically, the album reportedly explores the hidden undercurrents that flow through life and display who who we really are. 

The band’s latest single “Meeker Hollow” is the B side to their most recent 7 inch single, “The Sinner” and the track is piano-led ballad that slowly adds instruments as the song progresses in a way that bears an uncanny resemblance to Dark Side of the Moon-era Pink Floyd – in particular, think of “Us and Them” and “The Great Gig In The Sky.” However, “Meeker Hollow” doesn’t have the same anxiety and ominous feel; in fact, the song manages to be contemplative yet breezy to the point of seeming playful while maintaining a psychedelic feel. 

The official video is a DIY effort done by Cafiero and includes as its introduction, some famous footage of a woman tripping on LSD as part of an early scientific experiment, followed by found footage of flowers blooming in slow motion and space imagery, which further add to the psychedelic feel of the song.