Here was released as single on January 1, 2020. The song was recorded in a single day in November of 2019 at Maldek Studios in Salisbury, NC by Brian Gluf. Being the first official release by the band, The New Creatures were excited to see how people would react. The recording process was interesting because the band had not been practicing with Dino regularly at this point. Consequently, Bjarne took over the duties of drums and Conrad laid down the bass guitar on the track. This would be the last time they would swap instruments during studio recording. Like most of the band's album art, the cover for "Here" was decided on late in the game. It feature's a picture of John's grandfather at a summer BBQ wearing the coolest shirt you'll see this side of the Mississippi.
Sesame Seeds was released February 27, 2020. The track was recorded as a four-piece in 2019 before Dino had come into the picture. The band recorded Sesame Seeds at The Creature Farm in McAdenville, NC mainly for fun and had no serious intention of releasing it to the world. However, after Bjarne mixed it, the boys knew it warranted a release. This would be their first official release that was home-recorded. It was recorded on a two-channel interface and almost all of the parts were overdubbed, unlike in the studio where the band records their respective instruments simultaneously as to invoke a live-energy feel to their music. The band also released a music video for "Sesame Seeds" which was shot by childhood friend Rees Gibbons at The Creature Farm.
I Say, I Do was released on April 20, 2020 and would be the band's final single before their EP and debut album. "I Say, I Do" is the first studio release featuring the complete lineup of the Creatures. Finally, Dino got to shine, and he took full advantage of his shining moment. Recorded and mixed by Brian Gluf at Maldek Studios, the song was tracked in early February of 2020 in the same recording session that would produce their studio album. The cover art for the single (as well as the symbol of the Creature) was done by a late family friend of the band whose legacy lives on through his unique works of art.
Home Cookin' was released on June 1, 2020 and came out of an impromptu string of days spent at Grandfather Mountain near Linville, North Carolina. Activities during the session included cooking plenty of homemade meals, longs walks through the neighborhood, and beers by the campfire in the evenings. It must have been the crisp mountain air in March of 2020 (or maybe the lack of gigs and large amount of downtime due to COVID-19) that prompted the band to record "Home Cookin." The vocals for the EP were live-tracked with the rest of the instruments (unlike any of their other recordings) with minimal overdubbing to give the listener an experience that they might find at a live show - listening as if they were there in the room with us at the moment of recording. The EP contains six songs and was mixed and mastered by Bjarne. Songs like 'Charades' and 'Lady in the Tree' were written long ago before the Creatures came together whereas songs like 'Now We're Dancin',' 'Ketamine Queen,' and 'Your Man' were written by the band as a unit where someone in the band brought the song to the table and other members then put their own flavor and spice on the song bringing it to life. The artwork for the EP was done by Hannah Palladino (Dino's amazing sister) about two hours before the songs were submitted for release and features the band's dog Layla.
The New Creatures was released on July 5, 2020. The self-titled debut album represents a collection of all the members' writing abilities such as Ben on 'Cruise Control,' Conrad on 'Wild Pipedream,' John on 'Nashville,' and Bjarne on 'In My Head.' Some of the more collaborative tracks include 'Three Stops' and 'All the Flowers.' For the album, the Creatures stayed on site at Maldek Studios. Brian Gluf graciously let the band bunk up in his room above the tracking rooms. Over a four day period in early February of 2020, the band grinded out track after track, finishing all the recording for the instruments in the first two days. The 12-hour days were tiring but also exhilarating. Late-night runs to Cookout and Layla walks interspersed throughout vocal takes kept the band's morale high and tite. Brian did all the recording on "The New Creatures" while Bjarne took the duties of mixing and mastering into his own hands. A music video for 'Cruise Control' followed shortly after the release of the album which was directed by William C. Simmons and heavily features the band's van drifting on a race track. Will also shot the picture displayed as the album art. The photo came from a shoot the band did with Will at a local favorite diner in Charlotte called Zak's Burgers and Fries - the band highly recommends getting the Zak's special.
Out of the Blue was released on September 4, 2020. Being that the Creatures could not rest in 2020, "Out of the Blue" was the impending sixth official release by the band. It was self-recorded in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at a house that sits right on the Atlantic Ocean. This location ultimately influenced the name of the EP. The band packed the van with every piece of recording equipment they could scrounge up from The Creature Farm and headed South. They arrived and over the course of 4 days put together the EP, with really no concrete plan as to which songs would be on it before they got there. The EP features four tracks, and showcases new instrumentation, including spicy contributions from John's harmonica and Dino's bongos on 'Deep Woman' and 'Insulated Love'. The guys set up the instruments in the living room and began discussing which songs to record. The four songs were chosen with intent, and it simply felt right to the band to record and release them together as a unit. The band had the idea to bypass the use of effects, so the larger bathrooms in the house were the chosen locations for recording vocals along with auxiliary percussion being tracked in the dining room, using natural reverb to their advantage. Bjarne worked his magic mixing and mastering the EP to exhibit the Creatures' sound in its natural light. Many dips in the ocean were had along with plenty of walks on the beach with Layla dog.
Chatterhead was released on Christmas Day 2020. The song's inception came in the summer of that same year when Dino was fiddling around with a chord progression at The Creature farm. Being the mastermind of the track, Dino began putting together a scratch track on Garageband. After developing the songs signature, catchy guitar riffs, he brought the track to John who then put his lyrical twist on the tune after jamming it a few times. "Chatterhead": it could be in your own head or perhaps another person - who won't go away - external to your conscience. The song was slowly coming together over a span of a few months. Bjarne added his personal spice to the song by using a bow over his bass strings during the bridge instead of plucking with his fingers. Add in xylophone and Melodica, and you have Bjarne's signature contributions. Ben came into the picture on Chatterhead in more of an unconventional way than he usually does. Instead of sticking to his "no-effects-pedals" purist attitude, he welcomed the strange and ethereal sounds he was making from the software plug-ins on the computer. This added a significant amount of trippy textural layers to Chatterhead's sonic landscape. Bjarne and Dino teamed up to mix the song. The cover art for the song was done by Hannah Palladino and features profile headshots of all five members of the band drawn on a coffee-stained napkin.