Ears Wide Open: Pluto Saffron
Kevin Bronson / Buzzbands.la / September 7, 2023
Pluto Saffron is the solo project of singer-songwriter and producer Rob Banks, a multi-instrumentalist who has worked with bands such as Beach Party, White Arrows and Palm Springsteen, either in a writing, production or sideman capacity.
The first Pluto Saffron single, “Clouds,” comes advertised as golden-era indie-rock meets new wave, and it’s true — a buoyant tune about coming clean, especially with oneself, that sounds like a lost hit from the mid-Aughts.
“Years ago when I was struggling with heroin, I witnessed the loss of two close friends,” Banks says of the song. “I decided to work through the pain of losing them by starting to write this song. My entire life kept flashing before me as if to say ‘take it or leave it.’ Fate was forcing me to acknowledge that life can pass by quickly and your dreams can dissolve into the sudden reality that love, friends, family and feelings could disappear at any moment. I realized that now was the time I had always been waiting for.
“‘Clouds’ is about harnessing the ever-fleeting glimmer of hope that we all need to hold onto when things feel hopeless.”