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May 16, 2022 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Tom Bell

NYC and DC-based indie rock band Personal Space first emerged back in 2016 with their first LP, Ecstatic Burbs. After playing together in various formations since first connecting in the 2000s, members Sam Rosenthal, Alex Silva, Jesse Chevan, and Justin Gonçalves began crafting an alluring blend of underground rock stylings and anxious social musings. These came together to great effect last year with the band’s sophomore effort, A Lifetime of Leisure, and this summer the band are set to explore the banality of pandemic-era living with their new EP, Still Life.

Ahead of the EP’s release the band have already shared the record’s lead singles, “Enron’s Trip” and “Long Live the New Flesh,” and today they’re back with another new release, “Ceviche from Kew Gardens,” premiering early with Under the Radar.

“Ceviche from Kew Gardens” sees the band embark on a winding reflection on pandemic dating. The band conjures a sunny easygoing groove as dueling guitars enlace in tangled knots of melody, capturing the warmth and charm of the early days of a burgeoning romance. Meanwhile, Rosenthal lays bare his fears and hopes with an effortless openhearted easeー“I wanna go on long walks with you / I’m sure there’s others who say they do too / Our world is falling / But hell we could shoot / For something decent and true.”

Rosenthal explains the song’s inspiration saying, “Let me preface this by saying I’m a married man, but I remember there being a slew of pandemic articles and op-eds about dating during Covid times, about all the anxiety and apprehension, etc, so it felt like a good and timely subject for a song. There’s no explicit references to a pandemic or anything, just this lonely person who’s bored and kinda down on the world, texting and DM-ing with a prospective lover, dreaming about getting to see them in person. It shows the ordinary aspects of any courtship, like the constant questioning insecurity (Are they seeing other people? Do they feel the same way I feel?), but there’s also that added shittiness of feeling stuck indoors and in the digital realm that speaks more directly to these past couple of years.”

Check out the song and the band’s upcoming tour dates below. The Still Life EP is out everywhere on June 3rd via Good Eye Records.

Friday 5/20 - LA @ Ham & Eggs
Saturday 5/21 - Fullerton @ Programme
Sunday 5/22 - San Diego @ Pinkhaus
Tuesday 5/24 - Camarillo @ Harleys
Thursday 5/26 - Santa Cruz @ Urbani Cellar
Friday 5/27 - Oakland @ Oakland Secret
Saturday 5/28 - Davis @ Turtle House