(HUDSON, N.Y.) Neo-New Wave rock band Relations celebrates the release of its new full-length recording, Songbirds, at the Half Moon in Hudson on Friday, May 2, 2014, at 8pm. The group should appeal to fans of Sonic Youth, Pretenders, the Cars, the Brains, Brian Eno, the Who, Kraftwerk and the Strokes alike.

Brooklyn-based guitar and synth driven alternative-rock band Relations has roots in a Modern Lovers cover band that Michael Sanders and Terence Murren formed in high school in the late 1990s. Though the two remained close, each went their separate ways writing and performing music in various incarnations around New York and Boston (Officer May – Ace Fu Records, Abigail Warchild).

Two years ago, the two began writing and rehearsing songs that would ultimately compromise their first EP, “Relations”, released in 2012 on 100m Records. The new release, Songbirds, departs from synth/drum machine/guitar/bass textures of the EP. They have expanded their sound by adding layers of live drums, sequences, additional synthesizers and dance beats. The songwriting focuses on finding beauty in the everyday grind and the loss that is life and living. The end product is a refined, though not polished LP, recorded and produced at Rad Studios in Brooklyn by Josh Ascalon and also released on 100m Records.

The Half Moon is at 48 S Front St. in Hudson.