Denver Singer-Songwriter Joe Agger Releases New EP

Growing up in Maryland, Joe Agger was the youngest of five children and always had an affinity for music. Now, a Colorado resident for the last several years, Agger has continued to work on and release music while studying at CU. His latest project, an EP titled Perigee, was released in November and features two new tracks.

From a young age, Agger knew he wanted to make music. Inspired by a field trip to a symphony in the D.C. metro area, he quickly realized his desire to be a bassist, and from there was classically trained.

“They were playing a birthday symphony or something; it was silly and goofy looking back on it. But it was pretty and little five-year-old impressionable Joe scanned the entirety of the orchestra and fixed his eyes on the base section,” Agger told OFM.

“That was a very formative experience for me. I don’t even know how many of my peers who were in my class at that point even remember this, but I went home; I said, ‘I want to play the big instrument at the back of the orchestra.’”

Inspired by the musical stylings of Kate Bush and Weyes Blood, Perigee highlights Agger’s improvisational melodies and thought-provoking lyricism. The art-pop EP gives listeners an intimate look at the artist’s state of mind while composing music. Drawing on his own feelings of anxiety, Agger channels kinetic energy into his songs through fast-paced tempos and haunting vocals.

“We had a crisis that night”—I was definitely on something when I wrote that. Like a lot of times that I’m coming up with a song at first, it’s really urgent. By that I mean, like, my mouth is not going quick enough to let me get it out,” Agger says.

“The melodies are coming so quickly that my conscience does not have time to fully process it and let it out, which is why I feel like a lot of my best songs sound manic and nervous. I feel like I will never be able to fully get all of that out and rid of them from my body.”

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The EP includes a studio version of the title track produced by Netherlands artist Luke Adonis. Also featured is a live version and a demo version of its title track, as well as an additional song titled “I Don’t Lighten Up.” The title perigee refers to the point in orbit where the moon or satellites are closest to the Earth.

“So, if we talk about the perigee of a life, we feel disconnected from each other in our interpersonal relationships. But that feeling is fleeting, and that’s where the perigee occurs. And the closeness will pass just as the disconnection did. Everything’s ephemeral, and in orbit with each other,” Agger says.

All of Agger’s discography is available on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Sound Cloud, YouTube, and other music services.