Brooklyn-based musician Alexei Shishkin is about to release new record Goodbye Sunrise on Rue Defense, and latest track ‘Froze Up’ serves as an entry point for those unfamiliar with his jazz-inflected pop rock style. With sax and even some neo-soul elements working their way into the mix. Offering direction to the album’s title, the song conjures not so much a bright dawn as a tropical city night. An open-topped car ride through neon-lit streets, perhaps the last people awake and feeling easy with it, as though with a little luck and not much effort the night might just stretch on forever.

Long nights
fast cars
the city bars
are closed up
and I froze up

Corey Gulkin – Half Moon

“How were we before this?” sings Corey Gulkin on the title track of their upcoming LP Anything Bagel. “Was it all so simple?” The album sees the Montreal artist delve into the fully intricacies of the self, disavowing any clear intention or conclusion in favour of something more natural and kind. “I wanted to engage with parts of myself that I was most afraid of and let them speak their mind, without shame or judgment,” as Gulkin explains. “This album overall feels like both a coming out and a coming into myself.” Watch the video for the single below, filmed and directed by Nasuna Stuart-Ulin, with special effects by Dustyn Lucas:

Half Moon is out on the 6th October via on Anything Bagel and you can pre-order it now.

goodgrief – two wheel drive

Be it in his solo work or through bands like Young Elk and The Slow Sound, the music of Ezekiel Rudick always packs a punch of the darkest kind. Songs which reluctantly set out into the shadowy realm of the past through all the lurking traumas, sometimes emerging with some sense of catharsis and others nothing but bitterness. With love birds, the latest record from his solo project goodgrief, coming this September on Rue Defense, Rudick has shared new single ‘two wheel drive’. A continuation of Rudick’s new mission statement to make “happy-sounding sad music” which blends the 90s shoegaze of Low with a Bazan-esque earnest-yet-forthright delivery.

Lee Baggett – All Star Day

“Like a long-lost seventies summer jam complete with a surreal slacker spirit which captures that easy-going West Coast swagger.” That’s how we described ‘Fruit Dog‘, a song from Lee Baggett released last summer. The track captured the spirit of Baggett’s work, having played in various bands in California since the eighties, eventually meeting fellow musician and surfer Kyle Fields and playing with Little Wings and the Be Gulls for going on two decades. With new album Echo Me On coming next winter on Perpetual Doom, Baggett is back with ‘All Star Day’, and the song might just capture the vibe even better than the last. An embodiment of those perfect summer days you had in your youth, and a reminder that such carefree bliss is still available for those willing to search it out. “The song came to me in my head already done,” Baggett explains. “I couldn’t even bend it a little bit.”

Mali Velasquez – Tore

Described as “a perennial introspection into the wild animal of young adulthood,” Mali Velasquez’s forthcoming LP I’m Green on Acrophase Records explores everything from grief to the trials of toxic relationships, though above all works to acknowledge how our biggest critic so often comes from within. Lead single ‘Tore’ takes on self-judgement directly, looking to overcome the unrealistic barriers and expectations we create for ourselves with a mix of gentle compassion and heartfelt catharsis. “‘Tore’ is a song mostly about my own way of self-sabotaging,” Velasquez says. “I have no idea how to combat being embarrassed all the time still, but explaining it some has helped. Being comfortable in my skin is something that feels out of reach a lot of the time. I put a lot of my ideas of not knowing how to feel or what to do or eat or wear into this song.” Check out the video directed by Reed Schick below:

I’m Green is out on the 13th October via Acrophase Records.

Middle Priest – Act Your Age

LA-based outfit Middle Priest are gearing up to release their debut EP, I thought that I was far away, very soon, and have unveiled their very first single to give an indication as to what to expect. Led by Raleigh native Colson Dorafshar, the band offer a bright and emotionally charged sound that lands somewhere between the rich, country-inflected rock of the likes of The Wooden Sky and probing resonance of someone like Sinai Vessel. “How long must I wait for you?” Dorafshar asks in the opening lines. “How long ’til you’re ready to / come home, talk it out? I am a man now, don’t be a child, no / I’ve been missing you.” The song proceeds from this opening, the sound ebbing and flowing as Dorafshar questions and pleads with this significant other. Though no clear answers emerge, there’s nevertheless something affirming in the bright momentum of the sound.

POSTDATA – Try

Though better known as lead of Canadian rock royalty Wintersleep, Paul Murphy has also developed a solo career under the moniker POSTDATA. With new full-length Run Wild coming soon via Paper Bag Records, Murphy has unveiled latest single ‘Try’, and all the elements which have made him such a prominent songwriter in Canadian independent music are present. From his distinctively searching vocals to the melding of pop and idiosyncratic sensibilities, this time to paint a picture of a frustrated musician driving themselves onwards, regardless of whether the terminus is a brighter horizon or total breakdown. “I think this is about following your passion wherever it leads,” Murphy explains. “There’s a sense of humour I think to it and a sense of lightness and darkness and desperation too. Essentially, they are the same lyrics in verse 1 and 2 with a slight twist in perspective or that’s what I’m trying to arrive at.”

Run Wild is set for release on the 22nd September via Paper Bag Records and you can pre-order it now.

Viv & Riley – Kygers Hill

Viv & Riley, AKA Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno, is a Durham-based duo preparing to release new album Imaginary People later this year on Free Dirt Records. The record combines pop, indie folk and traditional country sensibilities to evoke the nuances of nostalgia, and opener and lead single ‘Kygers Hill’ serves as the ideal intro to the sound. It’s a song based around Leva’s experiences returning to her childhood home of Virginia after moving away for college, and how new perspectives of such familiar places can emerge with distance and time. “It’s about missing your old home while trying to make a new one.” As Leva concludes. “It’s about growing up.” Watch the video directed by Leva and Calcagno themselves below:

Imaginary People is out on the 15th September via Free Dirt Records and you can pre-order it now.

Your Heart Breaks – Do you dare to dream with me? (feat. Wynne Greenwood)

We’ve shared a number of pieces on The Wrack Line by Your Heart Breaks in recent months, describing how the album functions as a version of title image, with Clyde Petersen detailing “a lifetime of friendships, feelings and memories, broken free of a gyre and left upon the artists’ shoreline.” Across eighteen tracks and with guest appearances from the likes of Christine Fellows, John K. Samson, R.Ring, Kimya Dawson, and Nana Grizol‘s Theo Hilton, The Wrack Line details not only a life spent on the margins, but also the community which Petersen chose to build there. With the album now out via Kill Rock Stars, final single ‘Do you dare to dream with me?’ invites the audience into this project of building a better world. The dreamily triumphant tones and Wynne Greenwood’s vocals convincing us that the impossible can be brought to life, if only we retain a sense of defiance and imagination.

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First making a name as part of indie pop outfit Au Revoir Simone, Annie Hart‘s solo work has branched out in a number of directions, most recently Eno-inspired ambient as seen on Everything Pale Blue released via Orindal Records in 2021. With new album The Weight of a Wave coming later this summer on Uninhabitable Mansions, Hart is back with brand new single ‘What Makes Me Me’, and the song suggests some degree of return towards ARS-esque pop. A song which attempts to work through sadness by choosing to smile, as though by calling attention to your own dark moods allows for a certain irony, and with it a sense of distance. “I felt like the only thing I was good at was feeling gratitude—but, paradoxically, I was so melancholy about it,” Hart explains. “I pulled a trick from Belle and Sebastian’s hat and made a song about it as cute, sing-alongable, and folky as I could. If I was going to feel bad about myself, why not have fun with it?” Check out the video shot and edited by Emily James with art direction from Jenna Gribbon:

The Weight of A Wave comes out August 4th on Uninhabitable Mansions. Order a copy now from the Annie Hart Bandcamp page.

Austin Cash – Franklin, King of the Beers

Written over the course of a year but recorded in a single night, Hello, Franklin is the latest release of Fayetteville, Arkansas songwriter Austin Cash. Coming next month via Gar Hole Records, the EP mines a deep history of American Primitive and minimalist styles to paint late-pandemic life in all of its strangeness. A collision of dissonance and harmony which looks to conjure not only the needling dread of the contemporary moment but its small joys too. Single ‘Franklin, King of the Beers’ is the perfect introduction to the record’s tensions, a song which nods to the wide-open landscapes so often painted by the genre while evoking the insular claustrophobia of pandemic living, looping on itself like the anxious motion of a restless mind.

Christopher Tignor – Ritual of a Thousand Limbs

Brooklyn-based composer and violinist Christopher Tignor has won acclaim across classical and experimental music scenes with his evocative electroacoustic arrangements. Latest album The Art of Surrender, coming this September on Western Vinyl, sees Tignor explore instinctive territory, pushing the violin towards an almost atavistic sound which foregoes too much planning or intention to instead embrace raw movement. Single ‘Ritual of a Thousand Limbs’ encapsulates this style, tapping into primal urges to which are brought to life in a video directed by Jason Akira Somma and starring Rachelle Nidra Somma:

The Art of Surrender will be release on the 29th September via Western Vinyl.

Eat My Butterfly – Dolé

With EP Esperar El Sol coming in a few weeks via FPE Records, producer Eat My Butterfly has unveiled new single ‘Dolé’. The EP is described as “a celebration of La Réunion’s folklore,” and the song serves as an encapsulation of this style. A mix of traditional instruments and synthesizers, united by Dilo’s passion for percussion and rhythm which conjures an organic soundscape. Vocals from Romane Mana (of Romane & Gaël) lift the track further, aligning it within the catchy indie pop bracket alongside the likes of Sylvan Esso and more importantly drawing the listening into a living, breathing world of its own.

‘Dolé’ is out now & available on streaming services.

Generifus – Didn’t Even Look at the Mountain

The recording project of Olympia‘s Spencer Sult and assorted friends, Generifus has carved out a space within the independent scene with a steady stream of albums dating back over a decade. A joint release between Anything Bagel and Bud Tapes, latest record Rearrangel sees Generifus back after a hiatus and looking to capture the duality of any journey, where banal details and deep, almost spiritual meaning intermingle along a single road. With live band members Wilson Caicedo, Andrew Dorsett and Henry Wilson joined by the likes of Lee Baggett, the result is brought to life with a rich and often wistful mood, as typified by single ‘Didn’t Even Look at the Mountain’, where regret meets an unfailing fondness.

His His – Underdogs

We’ve written about Toronto‘s His His several times in recent years, most recently back in February with ‘People, Places, Changes’, a “bittersweet” song “both pining for what has now gone and determined to capture the fondness which persists all the same.” Latest single ‘Underdogs’ is similarly concerned with change and the passing of time, though this time the focus is on the gentrification of familiar places. A picture of incremental loss which worsens on every visit, the past slowly changed by multi-millionaires, tree by tree, brick by brick.

Steven van Betten – Yosemite

Though fronting Fell Runner and co-founding School of Song, where he teaches alongside the likes of Phil Elverum, Miya Folick, Luke Temple, Lomelda and Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, it is only now Nevada-born, LA-based songwriter Steven van Betten is releasing his debut EP. Family & Friends sits at the intersection of traditional and contemporary styles, with new single ‘Yosemite’ highlighting van Betten’s ability to evoke both the timeless folk narratives of Townes van Zandt and the ethereality of Sufjan Stevens. The song was written after a close friend lost a parent at the national park, which in turn made van Betten reflect on his own childhood memories of a space where human life gets as close as it might to a sense of something larger. Watch the video shot and directed by Marcus Högsta below:

Hike with your wife
to the top of the falls
and sit in the shade of the afternoon
Your favourite places in the United States
tangible proof that there is a God

Friends & Family will be released on the 27th October via Future Gods.

Tremolo Fields – Stumble On Out

The recording project of Iowa-raised, Portland-based artist David T. Rogers, Tremolo Fields combines folk sensibilities with rock and electronic styles to weave its evocative sounds. With debut album still as can be out now, latest single ‘Stumble On Out’ serves as the perfect introduction to the project. A song where heartfelt romance meets brooding drama, strung on a drum machine rhythm though prone to drifts upward, capturing a balance between physical and ethereal sensations. The rhythm builds as the track develops, eventually descending into an overwhelming crescendo which carries both passion and desperation—love as a kind of longing, even in the present moment.

I once heard the drum
deep in your chest
pulsating blood below
our hands pressed
and we held each other so close
counting down til the sun rose
six, five, four, three, two, one
I’ll always feel
the beating of your drum

still as can be is out now and available via the Tremolo Fields Bandcamp page.

Zeus – Air I Walk

Almost a decade since their last record (2014’s Classic Zeus), Toronto indie rock band Zeus return this September with their fourth album, Credo, via Arts & Crafts. Inspired by equal parts classic rock and 80s synth pop, the record promises to see a continuation of the Zeus M.O., indie rock at once fresh and timeless and full of hooks and harmonies. Lead single ‘Air I Walk’ is our first taste of the new material, a song that’s been a fixture of live sets for a while and serves as a stepping stone from past to present Zeus. What lead Neil Quinn calls “lovesick cowboy music,” there’s a slight dusty folk influence amidst the guitars and electronics, a niggling ache beneath the catchy chorus. Watch the video, directed by 1TruR, below:

Credo releases 8th September via Arts & Crafts. Pre-order a copy now via Bandcamp.

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Binker & Moses – Accelerometer Overdose

The recording project of saxophonist Binker Golding and drummer and composer Moses Boyd, Binker & Moses are representative of a new wave of acts within London who look to combine the jazz tradition with hip-hop, Caribbean rhythms and various electronic styles. The latest single from forthcoming record Feeding The Machine on Gearbox Records, ‘Accelerometer Overdose’ welcomes the tape loops of Max Luthert, pushing things into ambient territory and further increasing the possibilities of the Binker & Moses sound.

Sun June – Somewhere + 3

Last year saw the release of Sun June’s excellent album Somewhere on Run For Cover Records, which recently featured on our Albums We Missed in 2021 feature. The record was released from isolation, and when the band were finally able to get back together they channelled both the frustration of those lost months and the joy of being reunited into new songs. The result is Somewhere + 3, a deluxe edition of last year’s record with three previously unreleased tracks.

The vibe of these new songs is captured perfectly on lead single ‘Easy’. “[It] is a romantic struggle song,” explains says Laura Colwell. “It’s about love and partnership and longstanding arguments that are hard to get past.”

Want it to be easy
Swore we’d be better by now
Picture of your mother
In Vietnam, 1977

Widowspeak – Everything is Simple

“Everything is simple ’til it’s not,” sings Molly Hamilton of Widowspeak on ‘Everything is Simple’, the lead single from the New York duo’s forthcoming album, The Jacket. It’s a song about how things grow complicated with time, how even situations which begin as pure potential eventually become knotted with limitations, and how, unreliable narrators that we are, we often bend reality to adapt. But despite that, the song sounds surprisingly vibrant, unfurling with a patient confidence that we’ve come to expect from Widowspeak. Check out the video, directed by OTIUM, below:

The Jacket is out via Captured Tracks on the 11th March and you can pre-order it now from the Widowspeak Bandcamp page.

Good Good Blood – The Dizzying Parade

Back in November we introduced you to The Dizzying Parade, the latest album from Good Good Blood on Team Love Records, with single ‘Green Bank’. “A densely layered track which balances a propelling drum beat with an dreamy weightlessness,” we described, “Smith’s vocals finding that neo-psychedelic line between attitude and ethereality.” Ahead of the album’s release this week, Good Good Blood have unveiled the title track. Another propulsive song which gradually builds in intensity as it unfolds, the tension growing and growing before unravelling into a sonic kaleidoscope of colour and sound. A finale as disorientating as the title suggests.

Allegra Krieger – Taking It In

Brooklyn-based songwriter Allegra Krieger is back with Precious Thing, a new LP out via Northern Spy Records this spring. Lead single ‘Taking It In’ introduces the album’s distinctively inviting and wistful sound, Krieger’s gentle croon sitting within a changeable arrangement of strings that conjure the sense of memories ebbing and flowing around the present moment. “Where am I now? Where was I three years ago?” she asks, “Where is my mother where is anyone I know?” Check out the video by Samuel Ogoe, Melissa Lozada-Oliva and Koa Ho below:

Precious Thing releases via Northern Spy Records on the 4th March and you can pre-order it now from the Allegra Krieger Bandcamp page.

 chores – Trip Wire

chores are a post punk slash dream pop band from Rochester NY. They recently released their debut single, ‘Trip Wire’, taken from a forthcoming EP. It’s a wonderful introduction, the kind of lo-fi indie pop gem that would be right at home on an early 90s Sarah Records sampler. As the title suggests, it’s a song about trying to avoid all those little everyday triggers that spark anxiety. As lead Heather Swenson sings “it’s a thick mire, avoiding any tripwire / that could signal friendly fire somewhere in my brain, so many times a day.”

Melk – Yankee Division Highway

Self-described “aspiring optimists” from Washington D.C., Melk make dreamy, punky indie pop that nevertheless traverse some pretty serious emotional depths. Comprising of Melissa Kain (guitar & vocals), AJ DiGregorio (bass) and Alex Scheuer (drums), Melk have just released their second EP, a three-song collection called Somebody, Nobody, Anybody. The standout is the slow-burning final track, ‘Yankee Division Highway’, a song the band say is “about how apathy can erode the trust you have in loved ones.” Kain guides us through the patient build, matching the intensity of the instrumentation before drifting into a rueful croon.

Carrie Biell – See Through the Trees

“I’ve been living my whole damn life trying to make everybody feel alright,” sings Seattle-based singer-songwriter Carrie Biell in latest single, ‘See Through the Trees’. “Maybe I’m sick of trying.” The line captures the track’s strange relationship between uncertainty and conviction, where beliefs are felt with palpable force even when solutions might not be easy or accessible. “This is about feeling maxed out in life by people and life commitments,” Biell explains, “but still trying to open up and be vulnerable in a new relationship. It’s about responding to your own needs while also giving to a new partner and learning to trust.”

Modern Nature – Performance

Rising from the ashes of previous band Ultimate Painting, Modern Nature is the new moniker of London‘s Jack Cooper. A project which takes the compositions and songwriting developed with Ultimate Painting and builds upon them with a newfound willingness to improvise and experiment. This month sees the release of latest record Island Of Noise on Bella Union, with lead single ‘Performance’ offering a glimpse of what’s to come. A song “written from the perspective of someone seeing or realising something overwhelming for the first time,” as Cooper puts it, consisting of a multitude of moving parts that mimic a kind of irrepressible curiosity.

Check out the video by Conan Roberts, Phoebe Cooper and Cooper himself below:

Island Of Noise is out on the 28th January via Bella Union and you can pre-order it from the Modern Nature Bandcamp page.

Pompey – Overwhelmed

Montreal based artist Pompey has played in a variety of acts within the city, lending his talents to the likes of Thanya Iyer, Corey Gulkin and Paper Beat Scissors, but Overwhelmed is the first full-length album of his own. Released by Anything Bagel, the record is a self-professed pandemic album. A product not so much of the prolonged anxiety of the present but rather Pompey’s methods of coping. A deliberate search for comfort and kindness within the constant pressure, carving out a space in which to rest. The title track illustrates the mood as good as any on the record, delivered with a deliberate tenderness which invites the listener to share the safe harbour for a while.

I try not to frown
Smile spreads light throughout my crown
I will trust myself
Over time

Nuisance – Kuchisabishii

A collaboration between William J. Seidel and Ryan E. Weber (REW<<, Eric & Magill), Nuisance craft a version of dream pop coloured by folk and classical sensibilities, though the process is far more notable than that. Weber spent two years recording instruments and coding them into software, building up a library of sounds which can be downloaded at Poetic Devices. After such a laborious process, the pair decided their first use of the program should be as immediate as possible, and the first Nuisance album Kuchisabishii, (out now via Katuktu Collective) came together in just two days. A shifting, impressionistic exploration of intimacy and immediacy, it’s a wonderful example of music made from the ground up, from atomic level building blocks to an album-sized ecosystem.

Don’t Worry – Crushing Weight / Head’s Chocka

Fronted by co-leads Ronan Van Kehoe and Samuel Watson, Don’t Worry have won recognition with their blend of wry observation and nostalgic charm. Following last year’s single ‘As If By Magic‘, the outfit are returning with full-length Remorseless Swing on Specialist Subject Records, and the first singles suggest the Don’t Worry style is evolving in several directions beyond their indie rock/emo roots. Be it the poppy (or poppier) rhythms of ‘Crushing Weight’ or the sweet romance of ‘Head’s Chocka’, though the lyrics still have signature flashes of wit.

Why can’t we just take this moment
Flatter it with rapturous applause and leave early doors
Listen, my head is chocka
But I can no longer forget here and now

Oh, how
I’m tongue tied over you

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Equipped with an electric guitar, 80s Casio keyboard and (in her own words) “all the heartbreak she can wring out of wet cloth vocals,” Ash Nataanii solo is, on the surface, a very different beast to the Ash Nataanii that fronts Fuuls. Gone is the ferocious aggression, the throat-shredding yells reined in, replaced with something far more tender but no less cathartic. This is vulnerable indie pop with a steely edge, Nataanii exploring life as a queer indigenous person in a style that is fun and defiant and very much unique. “Exit Music for Exit Wounds is as much exorcism as it is prophecy,” she explains. “It’s a scrapbook of familiar sounds and a sneak peek at heartbreak yet to be.”

Today we have the pleasure of unveiling the album’s debut single. Titled ‘Everything Must Go’ it is a three minute illustration of what to expect from the album and the perfect introduction to Ash Nataanii as a solo artist. The lo-fi aesthetic is juxtaposed by a depth afforded by the rich combination of buoyant beats and electric guitar, giving the impression that Nataanii has wrung out every drop of potential without sacrificing that DIY rawness. Above all this, Nataanii’s expressive and direct vocals are given license to take centre stage, quickly proving that she can express herself just as well with a “whimper” as a shout.

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Having been a major part of the music scene in Bozeman for the best part of six years, self-releasing a handful of EPs and demo collections, this week sees the release of the debut full-length Panther Car record, Pomegranate, on Anything Bagel. The complete realisation of the band’s vision, the album sees Panther Car marry their divergent influences seamlessly, as opening track ‘Lull’ attests. The prog-rock heft and psych swirls are tied together with a grungy edge, the through line that allows the track a real sense of focus despite its sprawling ambition.

‘Cool Lies’ is equally inventive, glimpses of Panther Car’s arty sensibilities flickering into view as the track lurches between heavy garage rock and languid dream pop. Such size and juxtaposition could be said to have something to do with the album’s home state. As Meredith Schneider writes for Imperfect Fifth, the expansive beauty of ‘Rainbows’ is lifted from the Montana landscape, the vastness interspersed by large and looming mountains of noise. For every colossal peak there are valleys and gullies, and an active listener will find new ground upon repeated plays, each track an unmapped expanse that is only brought into relief by exploration.

And there’s plenty to explore with Pomegranate. The angular stomp of ‘Nonpareil’ leads into the weightless opening of ‘Behave’, but even within the latter the tone is shifting, meandering in slack water for spells before finding turbulent eddies that cast it forward. The ominous, off-kilter rhythms of ‘Hearts’ follow, before the breezy sixties-style psych-pop of ‘Ladders’. ‘The Way’ morphs a proggy soundscape into something altogether more brooding, rising with a volatile energy that threatens to blow as the track develops, and the mood passes over onto the mean and dark closer, ‘Thought Up’. A slow-moving juggernaut that pitches emotions into a swirling mass, the track grows and grows, culminating in a cathartic avalanche of sound that closes out the album.

We’re lucky enough to be streaming the record a few days early, so grab you headphones and let Panther Car take you by the hand into the grand, weird world of Pomegranate.

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This month sees the release of the debut Soft Maybe record, Domestic Nature, on Anything Bagel. Recorded and mixed by Lukas Phalen at HOYA Recordings in Missoula, and mastered by Mike Ditrio in Olympia, WA, Domestic Nature is a collection of fourteen soft pop gems that weave guitar harmonies and hooks together with jazz-style progressions and the odd splash of clarinet.

After the lazy, sun-drunk stir of opener ‘Takeoff’, ‘Airplane’ introduces Smith’s peppy delivery and idiosyncratic writing, possessing an intimacy and affection in its conversational tone. This is furthered by the small details across the song that bring the airplane trip to life, the Biscoff biscuits and Space Jam streams on the monitors, the Steve Reich headphone zone outs, the pining for pets and pals and loved ones. The result is indicative of the Soft Maybe sound—approachable and fun, with a sense of wit balanced by a comprehensive sincerity that breeds a genuine fondness.

This applies to the entire record, the binding force of what is otherwise an eclectic scrapbook of sounds and styles. The admission of wanting to stay home all day of ‘Lost & Found’ and the morose earnestness of ‘House Sounds’ is separated by the playful interlude of ‘Jazz School’, as though Smith is zipping between headspaces through a cartoon wormhole. Wistfulness is present in heaps (‘Drift’, ‘Okay, Fine, Alright’, ‘Closer’), giving the record a reflective dimension, though the loose-limbed cool that’s present in so many of the tracks feels rooted in the present, a full appreciation of the moment no matter how ordinary or banal.

This might be in the gentle gathering of life in ‘Morning Drone’, the mischievous beat of ‘Try Again’ or the everyday tangle of wonder and regret in the slacker-inspired ‘A Rainy Walk’. Every one of these songs finds its narrator stuck within the mundane world yet working to see beyond the ordinary, not so much to escape reality but rather breathe a new sense of value into its contours. This seems to be Soft Maybe’s mission statement: staring life’s moments in the eye, one by one, no matter of boring or trivial they may seem, then conjuring significance through sheer curiosity and earnestness.

Today we’re delighted to share the full album a little early, so grab your headphones, kick back and drift into Sanders’s easygoing world.

Photo by Emily Johnson, album art by Yeshe Parks

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The variation extends to the moods and themes of the songs too. Other Days is a record about the “ups and downs of daily life as a young adult in the current age of technology,” Cardiello tells The Seed in a Q&A, “dealing with social media, having friends living near and far, being constantly reminded of things happening elsewhere.” The result is a record that allows the joyous and the difficult to exist side by side, the celebratory energy bubbling to the surface no matter what.

After the taut, LVL UP style opener of ‘Afternoon’, ‘Thunderstorm’ arrives with bendy elastic guitar like bright strokes of synaesthesiac colour, before thumping percussion adds an air of magnitude and negative space. It’s a good introduction to the Wrinkles aesthetic, an upbeat and unpredictable combination of manic energy and moments of sweeping grandeur. The chorus is the case-in-point, the Fang Island-esque buoyancy supporting Cardiello as he channels his inner Spencer Krug, nearly-wailing lines about an unexpected and inexplicable connection to a distant land via the internet.

“There was a thunderstorm, I wanted to be part of it,
I went into the basement and banged on the drums,
there was a scene that I found on the internet,
I wanted to be part of it but didn’t know how”

Operating at a slower pace (at least initially), ‘Shores’ is built on a repetitive synth line that sounds like it could soundtrack the seafloor level of some retro platformer. Eventually the track blossoms into something equally anxious and earnest, at times accelerating into helter skelter motion before grinding back to a near-halt. It follows the record’s thematic blueprint, traversing the peaks and troughs of contemporary existence, exploring how sometimes the future can be as uncertain as sand at the bottom of the murkiest waters.

As you can probably tell from those descriptions, Wrinkles are not content to slip into a familiar groove. Every track on the record hums and pulses with its own unique energy, and it’s a testament to the band that the result is such a cohesive whole. Described as a “high energy rocker with frenetic guitar lines and punchy syncopation,” ‘Some Days’ see Cardiello wander into a new vocal landscape, a shouty delivery that the band refer to as “David Byrne-esque,” adding to the kind of twitchy, yelpy rhythm that jolts into expressive drawn-out sections.

‘Total Control’ spits and stomps behind squealing guitar before morphing into something almost anthemic, while closer ‘Black Jeans’ skitters and glows while the lyrics swerve from childhood memories to the comforting melancholy of watching The Lion King, earnestness delivered with disarming humour (“I’m wearing black jeans like my father did, I always thought they were ugly when I was a kid”). It’s one final confirmation that Wrinkles are dedicated to making something that sounds quite unlike anything else around at the moment. But don’t take our word for it, stream the whole thing below ahead of its release:

Photo by Amy Donovan

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Placid Lake is an album based around themes of grief, mourning and self-doubt, adopting an earnest, vulnerable tone that aims for sincerity and honest connection. The songs serve not only as a personal process of grieving but also a communal invitation to the listener to do likewise. Through this, remembrance and longing are wrought into something altogether more joyful, memories and emotions used in a celebration of life, and those now gone but not forgotten. After first single ‘Your Eyes‘ introduced the Bombshell Nightlight sound, we’re happy to be able to share the second single, ‘Death Day’, which picks up many of these themes directly. As the label describes:

The song deals with celebrating the death day anniversary of a loved one who has passed, and the emotions of grief that come with it. Specifically, Cardiello sings about the loss of his father when he was a child and the years of processing and grief that have accompanied that loss.

The video, directed by Marshall Granger, supports this. Shot at the the location of Cardiello’s recording, the film brings to life the simplicity and natural beauty of the area, and further draws the impact of that space from the music. Furthermore, it reinforces the urgency of Cardiello’s words, railing against the accepted wisdom of death and loss through imagery both peaceful and frantic. This is something of a theme for the track as a whole, competing emotions mirroring the condition of bereavement, where intrinsic beliefs are guessed at and questioned by outsiders, conventional wisdom stretched over an unconventional state, and serving no purpose beyond the creation of tension and guilt.

“I don’t see the difference,” Cardiello sings at the crescendo of the song, “no-one’s gone forever / we’re swimming in the pool of memories.” The statement becomes something of a mantra, and forms the overriding position of the track. The message here does not appear to be one of ‘moving on’ from loss, but rather re-configuring its meaning into a more useful shape. Which is to say, a lack of reason or explanation does not equate to a lack of meaning. Bombshell Nightlight use absence not as proof of nothingness but the very opposite, as validation of life and evidence of meaning, emptiness mapped by what surrounds it.

Placid Lake is set for release on the 17th August via Anything Bagel and Reflective Tapes.

Photo by Emily Johnson

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