Misty Lanes is the moniker for the solo recording project of Sydney based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, engineer and producer, Steven W. Schouten.

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Misty Lanes’ hit the Australian psychedelic garage scene in 2017 with the project's self-titled album, which was an instant cult-classic. While the recorded songs were enigmatically lo-fi, the live band was 5-6 piece that radiated a krautrock-ing wall of sound. Defined by reverberating guitars, punchy drums, dreamy organ melodies and delicate vocals, Misty Lanes embodies the soul of late 1960s bands such as The 13th Floor Elevators and The Kinks.

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The project's sophomore record Colourless Green Ideas was released in 2024 and saw Schouten levelling up his songwriting and DIY production. The eclectic collection of songs explored a plethora of sounds and sub-genres from psychedelic rock, baroque pop, outsider folk, krautrock, funk infused garage-rock and more. The album was written, recorded and pieced together between 2016-2021 in different home studios before Schouten finished up the mixing in 2022. The album nods to Brian Wilson, Billy Nicholls, The BeeGees, The 13th Floor Elevators and The Kinks. Schouten thoughtfully tries to stay true to the rawness of his ideas, which he calls “colourless green” — the naive first demo, which always captures the initial feeling of a song’s idea but is almost impossible to recreate in the studio environment. 

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"Misty Lanes has been wringing a sunshine-psych sound from the clear blue corners of indie pop for a few years, while also dipping into more ornate works of soundtrack and library music."  — Raven Sings The Blues (USA)