“I want nothing more than to be a loner,” Emily Kempf sings early on Flower of Devotion, the new album by Chicago trio Dehd. It’s a startling admission coming from a songwriter who, just a year ago on Dehd’s critically acclaimed Water, wrote eloquently about the joys and pains — more than anything, the necessity — of love, compassion, and companionship. But then, “admission” isn’t really the right word here, given the stridency of Kempf’s tone. “Loner” is a declaration.

The record ups the ante on Dehd’s sound & filters in just enough polish to bring out the shining and melancholy undertones in Jason Balla and Emily Kempf’s songwriting, even as it captures them at their most strident. Balla’s guitar lines at times flirt with ticklish cosmic country, while at others they reflect the dark marble sounds of Broadcast. Kempf, meanwhile, establishes herself as a singer of incredible expressive range, pinching into a high lonesome wail, letting loose a chirping “ooh!,” pushing her voice below its breaking point and letting it swing down there. When she and Balla bounce descending counter-melodies off one another over McGrady’s one-two thumps, or skitter off over a programmed drum pad, they sound like The B-52s shaking off heartache.

What makes Flower of Devotion so impressive is how its creation seems to have strengthened its creators, both as individuals and as a unit, even as they’ve stared down their own limitations. It’s also striking just how much fun they seem to be having in the process. “It’s okay to be lighthearted in the face of despair,” Kempf says. It’s a theme that runs through the album, from the opening back-and-forth build of “Desire” to the click-clacking chorus of “Haha,” which finds them deflating their own history. Flower of Devotion was recorded in April and August of 2019 in Chicago. It will be released on Fire Talk Records on July 17th 2020.

2nd Pressing
Glow in the Dark Vinyl - 300 Copies
Black in Bright Green Vinyl - 500 Copies
Black Vinyl - 500 Copies

1st Pressing
Neon Green Splatter Vinyl - 500 Copies
Black Vinyl - 500 Copies

* Additional color variants available via fine independent retailers everywhere.

Deeper's Auto Pain: Deluxe Edition reframes the liminal spaces of the Chicago quartet’s searingly-nuanced sophomore effort about grief and resilience into a densely-layered perspective of emotional maximalism fearless in its vulnerability. The deluxe edition includes remixes from fellow ascending artists Working Men’s Club, PVA, NNAMDI and more as well as two stripped-back demos and live versions from the band’s performance at the Chicago Cultural Center in March 2021. While the original version delivered a masterclass in razor-sharp post punk, the expanded record gives a glimpse into a lens of a year full of adversity and the growth and perspective that draws these songs together to pack a powerful, personal punch. Auto Pain: Deluxe Edition is out September 3rd on Fire Talk.

Limited to just 500 direct to fan copies! Spot gloss gatefold jacket w/ printed inner sleeves, updated artwork and liner notes & pressed on two ultra limited variants.

Deluxe package includes 5 remixes, 2 demos and 6 live recordings, full track list on the inner flap of the gatefold image below.

Valentine Caulfield and Scott Fair (guitar/production) met a couple of years ago when their respective previous bands shared a bill in Manchester. Caulfield was drawn to Fair’s aspirations to write beyond genre, while Fair was instantly taken with the singer’s magnetic stage presence and harsh, visceral vocals delivered in her native French. The pair also enlisted Liam Stewart (percussion), a touring musician who’s powerhouse rhythmic presence compliments the pair’s vision—emphasizing raw energy and emotion over meticulous composition to create a singular cathartic experience.

The songs on ‘…’ EP were recorded in a variety of spaces, from rehearsal rooms and home studios to cavernous industrial mills. You can hear it in the recordings: the clattering footsteps, muffled piano and chatter at the end of “Bottle Episode” were taken from the hall outside of one of their recording spaces. Other sounds like a buzzing fluorescent light and the rhythm of a passing train also found their way into the mix. Mandy, Indiana’s influences are fluid and their lyrics are left intentionally open to interpretation, but the group acknowledge cinematic references alongside musical touchstones. The band’s self-made music videos, influenced by the macabre film-making of Gaspar Noe and Leos Carax, see them carefully stitching together found-footage montages. Every image feels intentional, providing a visual chaos that matches the music’s unpredictability. Mandy, Indiana’s debut EP documents where they’ve been, where they are now, and where they’re going.

‘The Sublime Sculpture of Being Alive,’ the new album from Los Angeles-based Media Jeweler, is a three-dimensional reckoning with the contradictions of life in all its manic altitudes and claustrophobia. Recorded over three chaotic weeks in Omaha, the band’s elaborate sonic infrastructures carry the same sense of studied experimentation as Palm, Guerrilla Toss or Deerhoof, rollicking across an energetic spectrum that parlay the band’s post-punk roots, jazz rhythms and art punk choruses into something greater than the sum of its parts. The most fully-fleshed release yet, a myriad of musical collaborators were enlisted uniting a finely-tuned sense of adventurousness that roves between the personal and political to frame an acute portrait of modern day societal revelation. ‘The Sublime Sculpture of Being Alive’ is out on August 13th on Fire Talk.

1st Pressing
300 Units - Ecomix Vinyl
400 Units - Black Vinyl

300 Units - Swamp Green Vinyl exclusive to independent record stores.