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Ann Arbor's Pity Sex built the world of White Hot Moon, their second album, inch-by-inch. The group, formed in 2011 by childhood friends and lifelong collaborators Sean St. Charles (co-lyricist/drums) and Brennan Greaves (vocals/guitar), came together explicitly to try its hand at writing pop songs. St. Charles and Greaves were putting their hardcore band to rest, enlisting Britty Drake (co-lyricist/vocals/guitar) and Brandan Pierce (bass) to round out Pity Sex's line-up. Now, the band is using the foundation of 2013's celebrated Feast of Love as the framework for something bigger, stronger, and altogether more monumental. Coming off of tours with Ceremony, Eskimeaux, and Colleen Green_including a run in Australia_the band dove into the studio with Feast of Love producer Will Yip to harness that momentum into an album to showcase Pity Sex's growth. And if White Hot Moon wears its ambition on its sleeve, that's by design: the band looked to wide-screen albums by Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth for inspiration in finding a bigger sound. That shows: Drake and Greaves spin huge webs of sound, anchored in shoegaze but branching off in a dozen directions, from fuzzed-out power-pop ("Bonhomie") to shimmering balladry ("Dandelion") and back again, while St. Charles and Pierce lock into step subtly counterintuitive rhythms and floor-shaking low-end.

Walking the razor's edge between overdriven navel gazing bliss and perfect pop sensibility, Ann Arbor's Pity Sex have crafted a breathtaking debut LP in 'Feast of Love' that's both awesomely beautiful and deftly evocative. Massive, harmonically distorted guitars and airy dual male/female vocals are hallmarks of Feast of Love, all drenched in warm, dreamy reverb. Most impressive however, is how the band utilizes pop conventions - both vocal and instrumental melody, and a strong and pounding rhythm section - while delving deep into the ethereal power of textured soundscapes. Guitars fuzz and flange, weaving between distinct, identifiable parts and simple brushes of colored noise. The voices similarly drift between carrying delicate melodies and delivering evocative feeling. Calling on the infectious, hooky inclinations of the Pixies, dreary melodies of the Breeders and sonic mass of My Bloody Valentine, Pity Sex's Feast of Love twists and churns with these beautiful yet fleeting vignettes captured in sound.

Further Out, the anticipated debut full length from the reclusive Indiana trio Cloakroom, can be defined best as an exploratory sonic mission. From the album's opener, "Paperweight," the crushing force of a wall of distorted bass and pounding drumming collapses to uncover the airy, reverb-soaked vocals of guitarist Doyle Martin, who's carrying a sullen burden that seems just as weighed down. From the headbanging heaviness of "Moon Funeral" to the ethereal moments of songs like "Starchild Skull" and Mesmer," Cloakroom's output is the end result of researching seemingly dissimilar elements like atmospheric post-rock, punishingly slow stoner metal, and cathartic emo and how their best qualities can work into a final, organic sound, masterfully navigated by the expert and completely analog production of Matt Talbot. Further Out boasts the timelessness of a classic record: it is expansive and exploratory while still reflective and referential to the astral tendencies of predecessors like Hum and Jesu. Further Out, available now in two easy volumes.

2012 is the year Michigan's Citizen went from an underground midwest band to an explosive nationwide force to be reckoned with. Young States is Citizen's debut EP, pressed on vinyl for the first time, showcasing this young quintet's penchant for writing heartrending yet impossibly catchy songs.

Finding beauty, where one wouldn’t suspect it in the first place. Discovering music, where there used to be only sound a moment before. Forming an orchestra out of everyday surroundings, the main thing out of the incidental, the fulfilling momentary situation out of the profane togetherness. All of this is part of the goal, meaning and sense of Oh No Noh, the project of Leipzig based guitarist, robot programmer, magnetic tape crumpler and composer Markus Rom. All of this floats and shines through "Kanzi", the second Oh No Noh album to be released on November 18th, 2022.

Supersonic Home, the anticipated debut LP from Pittsburgh's resident musical wunderkinds Adventures, is an ambitious blend of powerhouse influences: these ten songs reimagine of the best parts of 90's alt-rock and emo and infuse them with the cathartic energy of punk. However, Adventures delivers much more than just the sum of these parts. Throughout upbeat anthems like opener "Dream Blue Haze" and pensive, melancholic retreats like "Tension and "Long Hair," the constant vocal tandem of Reba Meyers and Kimi Hanauer radiates above every infectious pop-rock riffs and the warm, rhythmic backbone of bass and keyboard. No matter what draws you in to listen to Adventures, there is something undeniably relatable in these songs about honestly dealing with self-doubt, troubled hearts, and the everyday struggle to feel content that will make you keep coming back to Supersonic Home.

In every way, Julia Brown's only full-length record An Abundance of Strawberries defies expectations. Their final release, Strawberries was recorded largely after the band had broken up. Rather than scrap a large amount of material, songwriter Sam Ray and violist and singer Caroline White decided to finish the record with a rotating cast of musicians, including the original band members Alec Simke and John Toohey, as well as Sean Mercer, Warren Hildebrand, Alex Giannascoli, Abby Trunfio, and others. Largely eschewing traditional band arrangements, they worked heavily with samples - drum machines, breaks, and bird calls in lieu of traditional percussion, 808s in place of basslines - before layering arrangements of strings, pianos, horns, and omnichord on top alongside lush harmonies and oft-affected vocals. The result is a meticulous record that sounds like nothing and everything at once. Both celebratory and melancholy, it nods toward a lineage of pop and indie-pop artists from Ellie Greenwich to Heavenly and more experimental acts like Fog, Cotton Candy Collective, Spiritualized and Duster.

There's a kinetic energy about anything this band does: a level of care, precision and attention to detail that nearly twenty years into their existence, continues to elevate and set them apart. This four-song offering is no different—from the self-recorded and produced songs down to the design and packaging.

A great pop record is like a great friend: an intimate confidante, a shoulder to cry on, and a partner in crime when you're ready to get dolled up and dance the pain away under the disco ball (or in front of your bedroom mirror.) That's what you'll find on MARCI, the solo debut from Marta Cikojevic of Montreal soft-rock group TOPS, who steps out on her own in self-assured style with a guileless collection of synth pop songs that brim with unabashed sincerity. The confidence of this debut belies the fact that Cikojevic has never formally written songs before, though she's been a student of melody since her childhood in rural Ontario, when she would sing along to the radio pop divas du jour, perform in the church choir, and participate in piano recitals. The middle child of five sisters, Cikojevic describes herself as a shy singer at home, who would instead seek out secret spots_the forest behind her home or a broken down van on their property were favorites_to practice her singing and record the songs she would make up herself into a handheld recorder. She was encouraged to do so by her grandfather, a refugee from the former Yugoslavia, who would sing and record both original songs and traditional Croatian folk songs on a cassette dictation machine_she still has some of the tapes they made together. Eventually she would make her way to Toronto where she played in several groups before joining TOPS as a keyboardist in 2017 and moving to Montreal. When she decided to make a solo record, it was a given that she'd work with her TOPS bandmate David Carriere, describing him as "a great pop writer" who shared her vision for what she wanted to achieve with her music.Carrierre and Cikojevic approached MARCI with the idea that they wanted to craft hits_songs that were catchy and danceable while still being emotionally honest and down-to-earth. The record was put together over the course of a year in a Montreal apartment reminiscent of a 1993 pawnshop, full of synthesizers and obscure instruments dating back to the...

Like a character out of your favorite movie or a novel you can’t put down, Ashe possesses her own mystique rooted in quiet wisdom, yet amplified with vibrance and spirit. For as much as she embodies timeless California cool (northern or southern, take your pick), she’s got enough gusto and moxie to hang on the East Coast or down South. Musically, she slides untouchable hooks over dusty instrumentation, connecting Laurel Canyon eloquence with UK rock scope. After an injury sidelined her future as a gymnast, she immersed herself in music as a kid. Attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, she kickstarted her journey with the single “Used To It” in 2017 followed by The Rabbit Hole EP a year later. Teaming up with Finneas as producer, she reached critical mass on 2019’s Moral of the Story: Chapter 1 EP. The single “Moral of the Story” appeared in NETFLIX’s To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You and exploded on streaming platforms, going platinum in the US and Silver in the UK. Her 2021 full-length debut, Ashlyn, arrived to widespread critical acclaim from Variety, Nylon, Billboard, and more. Beyond tallying nearly 2 billion total streams, she took over television with performances on Today, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, American Idol, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Now, she turns the page on another chapter of her story on her second full-length album, Rae [Mom + Pop] out on October 14th. Rae was produced by Leroy Clampitt (Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber), mixed by Manny Marroquin (Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Rihanna) and mastered by Michelle Mancini (Kid Cudi, Camila Cabello, Halsey).

Technological agitation. Narcissism fatigue. A galaxy of isolation. These are the new norms keeping Weyes Blood (aka Natalie Mering) up at night and the themes at the heart of her latest release, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow. The celestial-influenced folk album is her follow-up to the acclaimed Titanic Rising. (Pitchfork, NPR, and The Guardian admiringly named it one of 2019's best.) While Titanic Rising was an observation of doom to come, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow is about being in the thick of it: a search for an escape hatch to liberate us from algorithms and ideological chaos. "We're in a fully functional shit show," Mering says. "My heart is a glow stick that's been cracked, lighting up my chest in an explosion of earnestness." And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow opens with the wistful, winsome "It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody," a song about the interconnectivity of all beings, despite the fraying of society around us. "I was asking a lot of questions while writing these songs. Hyper-isolation kept coming up," Mering says. "Our culture relies less and less on people. Something is off, and even though the feeling appears differently for each individual, it is universal." Other tracks follow in kind. The lullaby-like "Grapevine" chronicles the splintering of a human connection. The otherworldly dirge "God Turn Me into a Flower" serves as allegory about our collective hubris. "The Worst Is Done" is an ominous warning, set against a deceivingly breezy pop melody. "Chaos is natural. But so is negentropy, or the tendency for things to fall into order," she says. "These songs may not be manifestos or solutions, but I know they shed light on the meaning of our contemporary disillusionment."

Folk Implosion's fan favorite album is available on cassette for the first time!They say there's always something special about the first time and this record is that first time for the Folk Implosion. The band left the acoustic guitars and fragmentary sketch modus operandi of their earlier cassette behind to focus on an eccentric version of home studio craft, held together by a few cheap microphones (including a Radio Shack PZM) and a Tascam cassette 4-track recorder sequestered under the eaves of a 3rd floor, Cambridge Massachusetts double-decker house apartment. Wood floors and Christmas lights were as much a part of the vibe as an Ampeg VT 40 guitar amp and a small chord organ. The duo would wait until the downstairs neighbor went to work in the morning and then would play until the tunes snapped like a high-pitched snare drum. The setup would close down just before the neighbor came home from work, keeping the peace long enough to see the project through to completion.Once tracked, the band snuck into Fort Apache studios with Tim O'Heir (producer of Sebadoh's 'Bakesale' LP) early one morning, freeloading off the Sebadoh sessions that were set to get going that afternoon. Tim mixed the songs through a very hi-fi Neve board in a matter of hours with the Tascam sitting right on the giant board like a tugboat keeping time with an oil tanker. The duo hoped that the spirits of ancestors like The Troggs, Devo, Al Green, and The Bee Gees would be pleased with the scent of tribute that arose from the ashes of the pyre. Today, they are pleased to see the Slaps and the Sputniks on view again nearly 30 years later.

Smut shines a spotlight on the sounds of the 90s acrossgenres - a record scratch, a spacey synth line, a breakcorebeat - all while maintaining freshness and originality. Thecollaborative project of vocalist Tay Roebuck, guitaristAndrew Min, bassist and synth-player Bell Cenower,guitarist and synth-player Sam Ruschman and drummerAidan O'Connor, Smut have conquered national tours withBully, Swirlies, Nothing, and WAVVES. Based in Chicago, IL,the band hits their stride in `How the Light Felt'. It is anexercise in coping, an electrifying statement of hope in thethick of resounding loss, and a love letter to the peoplethat keep us going. With their powers combined, Smutmeld the songwriting sensibilities of Oasis with the vocaldelivery of the Cocteau Twins - the percussive grooves of...

Demons is a heavy four-piece punk band from Norfolk Virginia that pull from dimensions of noise rock, sludge, and hardcore to generate a sound that has been described as "raw and confrontational fury." Demons newest offering, 'Swallow', is a blast of all-killer-no-filler force that will appeal to fans of music characterized by chaotic energy and deeply rooted aggression expressed in "beautiful balance between ultra-catchy, driving riffs, burly grooves, and angular dissonance."

Sorrow Wave duo BRING HER return with their second LP and first album since 2019, Comfort In The Shame. Based out of Pittsburgh, BRING HER play a distinctive brand of somber darkwave, defined by haunting and magnetic vocals over pounding and obsessive drum machines, penetrating guitar chords, and eerie and harrowing synths. Using DIY recording methods coupled with sound shaping, heavy layering, and meticulous editing the new album sees the two-piece at a new height, adding to the urgency and crushing weight of their already brooding sound. Elements almost industrial in nature shine through these 10 new tracks, yet the duo stays as gloomy and dismal as the self-described Sorrow Wave moniker implies.

Green and red cassette shells Dolby B noise reduction Download card Will have some cool on-body printed design when we come up with it… you know, we always do.

Several things happened before a warm day when I met the four members of Frankie Cosmos in a Brooklyn studio to begin making their album. Greta Kline spent a few years living with her family and writing a mere 100 songs, turning her empathy anywhere from the navel to the moon, rendering it all warm, close and reflexively humorous. In music, everyone loves a teen sensation, but Kline has never been more fascinating than now, a decade into being one of the most prolific songwriters of her generation. She's lodged in my mind amongst authors, other observational alchemists like Rachel Cusk or Sheila Heti, but she's funnier, which is a charm endemic to musicians. Meanwhile Frankie Cosmos, a rare, dwindling democratic entity called a band, had been on pandemic hiatus with no idea if they'd continue. In the openness of that uncertainty they met up, planning to hang out and play music together for the first time in nearly 500 days. There, whittling down the multitude of music to work with, they created Inner World Peace, a collection of Greta's songs changed and sculpted by their time together. While Kline's musical taste at the time was leaning toward aughts indie rock she'd loved as a teenager, keyboardist Lauren Martin and drummer Luke Pyenson cite "droning, meditation, repetition, clarity and intentionality," as well as "'70s folk and pop" as a reference for how they approached their parts. Bassist/guitarist Alex Bailey says that at the time he referred to it as their "ambient" or "psych" album. Somewhere between those textural elements and Kline's penchant for concise pop, Inner World Peace finds its balance. The first order of business upon setting up camp in Brooklyn's Figure 8 studios was to project giant colorful slides the band had made for each track. Co-producing with Nate Mendelsohn, my Shitty Hits Recording partner, we aimed for FC's aesthetic idiosyncrasies to shine. The mood board for "Magnetic Personality" has a neon green and black checkerboard, a screen capture of the game Street Fighter with "K.O." in fat red letters, and a cover of Mad Magazine that says "Spy Vs. Spy! The Top Secret Files." On tracks like "F.O.O.F." (Freak Out On Friday), "Fragments" and "Aftershook," the group are at their most psychedelic and playful, interjecting fuzz solos, bits of percussion, and other sonically adventurous ear candy. An internal logic strengthens everything, and in their proggiest moments, Frankie Cosmos are simply a one-take band who don't miss. When on Inner World Peace they sound wildly, freshly different, it may just be that they're coming deeper into their own. Inner World Peace excels in passing on the emotions it holds. When in the towering "Empty Head" Kline sings of wanting to let thoughts slide away, her voice is buoyed on a bed of synths and harmonium as tranquility abounds. When her thoughts become hurried and full of desire, so does the band, and she leaps from word to word as if unable to contain them all. As a group, they carry it all deftly, and with constant regard for Kline's point of view. Says Greta, "To me, the album is about perception. It's about the question of "who am I?" and whether or not the answer matters. It's about quantum time, the possibilities of invisible worlds. The album is about finding myself floating in a new context. A teenager again, living with my parents. An adult, choosing to live with my family in an act of love. Time propelled us forward, aged us, and also froze. If you don't leave the house, who are you to the world? Can you take the person you discover there out with you?" - Katie Von Schleicher

Lacing is a fuzzy, grungy, & dreamy band from Chattanooga, TN. These tapes are professionally-duplicated cassettes w/ 4 panel color printed J-cards, housed in clear Norelco cases. Program repeats on both sides.

Elliott’s debut full-length, U.S. Songs, came with a lot of hype in the independent music scene, as their previous single had garnered much positive press. Aggressive guitars storm out of the gates with the track “Miracle,” and for the rest of the album the band never lets up. For people wanting to understand indie rock music, Elliott is a worthy point of entry, encompassing emotional heights and depths along with the tight musicianship that is expected from a genre known for wearing its heart on its sleeve.

Song In The Air is Elliott’s third fulllength album. But for all of its beauty, energy, and human spirit, Song In The Air is not Elliott’s moment of finding “the answer.” What we have is a record that shows us the value of the moment of asking the question...of looking at a thing and figuring on it. Elliott’s songs glow, spiral around, get messed up, come back home, get really sad, get worked up, fight against melancholy, are pissed off... they are “alive.” Song In The Air is the first record that Elliott made with the addition of Benny Clark on guitar and Jason Skaggs on bass.

The tenth studio album by Bjork on cassette tape.

each album always starts with a feeling
that i try to shape into sound
the feeling was landing
( after my last album utopia which was all island in the clouds element air and no bass )
on the earth and digging my feet into the ground
it was also woven into how i experienced the "now"
this time around 7 billion of us did it together
nesting in our homes quarantining
being long enough in one place that we shot down roots
my new album "fossora" is about that
it is a word i made up
it is the feminine of fossore ( digger, delver, ditcher )
so in short it means "she who digs" ( into the ground )
so sonically it is about bass , heavy bottom-end ,
we have 6 bass clarinets and punchy sub
i would like to especially thank bergur þórisson and heba kadry
and side project , el guincho , hamrahlíð choir , soraya nayyar , clarinet sextet murmuri , siggi string quartet ensemble , emilie nicolas , serpentwithfeet
viibra and last but not least : sindri and dóa .
visuals were made by viðar logi , james merry , m/m , nick knight , andy huang , edda , isshehungry , tomi , sayaka , sunna , sara and heimir
and my ever so loyal and magnificent team : derek , rosamary , catherine , chiara , hilma and móa

First time to cassette for 2006 album, yellow cassette & yellow norelco box, limited edition of 100.Limited edition reissue of the final Brandtson album, Hello, Control. Features previously unreleased alternate mixes from album producer Ed Rose and marks the first time the 2006 album will be available on vinyl and cassette. Presented with all new artwork. A pivotal release and the closing chapter on over a decade of making music for the Cleveland quartet. The first album with longtime friend and collaborator Adam Boose joining on bass, and the fifth release with producer Ed Rose. From the dusty lull of album opener "A Thousand Years" a new Brandtson begins to emerge. Putting a ready for the floor sneer to the road worn hallmarks of their back catalog, and taking a decided step into pop territory on singles, "Nobody Dances Anymore" and "Earthquakes and Sharks". The alternate Ed Rose mixes were curated from the bands archives and have been previously unreleased in any format. Originally released by The Militia Group in 2006. The 2022 reissue of Hello, Control was mixed by Ed Rose, mastered by Adam Boose, and lacquer masters cut by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service.

For their Drag City debut, the enigmatic duo expand into eight-armed wonder; all the better to reach ever-deeper into their bag o' tricks. Slinky and sliding elegantly, the kids forge tunes with a harmony of ambiguity and nostalgia, effortless yet precise, and rounded with thick bottom - a dancing clash of cognition and dissonance!Since 2015, Kamikaze Palm Tree have been a relative mystery. Now, in times no less mysterious, Drag City welcomes them, celebrating the energy of their second LP, where KPT play their offbeat strain of 21st century rock.Making MINT CHIP, Dylan Hadley and Cole Berliner reach deeper into their bag of tricks than ever before, dialoguing with an absurd shared intent they haven't yet paused to question. The off-center pieces gathered together for Good Boy have given way to pulsing aquatic compositions on MINT CHIP. Cole's guitar tones, wire thin, bell-like, bluesily downtuned, slinky and sliding elegantly, arc purposeful around their peripherals. Dylan's kit work, effortless yet precise, grounded with heavy bottom, drives and interacts organically with all the emerging structure, nailing down finely detailed frames and canvases to backdrop her singing and the unremitting landing of melodies and songs. With the addition of Josh Puklavetz, things that didn't make sense before - like bass - are now on the beach, fully lotioned, essence to essence. Violin and clarinet (Laena Myers Ionita and Brad Caulkins, respectively) round out the tonal spectrum. All strung together in the foothills of Altadena's Wiggle World Studios with Hartling back in the engineer's seat and Tim Presley producing the proceedings!

For The Driver Era, music can't and shouldn't be forced. The band, formed by brothers Ross and Rocky Lynch in 2018 while on tour with their former group R5, aims to embrace the present moment, creating songs that reflect each experience and feeling as it comes.

It's a philosophy that pervades all of the duo's releases, from their debut Summer Mixtape (expected to release later this summer) features the band's two new tracks - the Rolling Stone- backed 'Keep Moving Forward' and lead single 'Malibu', inspired by summertime escapism.

In between polishing off the new songs and hitting the road, Ross is also a critically acclaimed actor (he drew rave reviews for his title role in the serial killer biopic My Friend Dahmer and recently starred in Netflix's The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina).

The third LP from the New Zealand quartet houses 12 jewels of tight, guitar-heavy songs that worm their way into your head, an incandescent collision of power-pop and skuzz. The Beths wanted to make an album meant to be experienced live, for both the listeners and themselves. They wanted it to be fun - to hear, to play - in spite of the prickling anxiety throughout the lyrics, the fear of change and struggle to cope.

Gather your loved ones, Together is here. Duster's fourth album is a 13-song exploration of comfortable, interplanetary goth. A sonic vaseline of submerged guitars, solder-burned synths, and over-driven rhythm tracks. "I know people say, `Oh Duster music so sad, we've even said it ourselves before," Clay Parton said. "But it's a lot more like absurdism than nihilism."

Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek could hear the staggering differences in the songs they were writing for their third album as Whitney, Spark _ the buoyant drum loops, the effortless falsetto hooks, the coruscant keyboard lines. They suddenly sounded like a band reimagined, their once-ramshackle folk-pop now brimming with unprecedented gusto and sheen. But could they see it, too? So in the ad hoc studio the Chicago duo built in the living room of their rented Portland bungalow, a shared 2020 escape hatch amid breakups and lockdowns, Julien and Max decided to find out. Somewhere between midnight and dawn every night, their brains refracted by the late hour and light psychedelics, they'd play their latest creations while a hardware store disco ball spun overhead and slowed-down music videos from megastars spooled silently on YouTube. Did their own pop songs _ so much more immediate and modern than their hazy origins _ fit such big-budget reels? "We'd come to the conclusion we weren't going to be filming Super 8 videos to this stuff anymore," Julien remembers with a grin. "How about something more hi-fi, cinematic?" When the footage and the tunes linked, Julien and Max knew they had done it, that they'd finally found Whitney's sound. Spark reintroduces Whitney as a contemporary syndicate of classic pop, its dozen imaginative and endearing tracks wrapping fetching melodies around paisley-print Dilla beats and luxuriant electronics. What's more, Whitney reduces three years of extreme emotional highs and lows into 38 brisk but deep minutes, each of these 12 tracks a singable lesson in what it is they (and, really, we) have all survived. The recalcitrant ennui of opener "nothing REMAINS," the devastating loss of "TERMINAL," the sun-streaked renewal of "real Love": However surprising it may sound, Spark is less a radical reinvention for Whitney than an honest accounting of how it feels when you move out of your past and into your present, when you take the next steps of your lives and careers at once and without apology. Spark maintains the warmth and ease of Whitney's early work; these songs glow with the newness of now. Listen closely, and you'll notice frequent references to smoke and fire throughout Spark, itself a double entendre for inspiring something new or burning down the old. Max and Julien were indeed in Portland for the Fall of 2020, when smoke from nearby fires choked the city at record levels. It was terrifying and tragic, but they pressed on. "We found a way to live while the world was burning/Real life was caving in," Julien sings almost merrily during "back THEN," an anthem for finding out what's on the other side of hardship. In these dire days, scientists speak increasingly of serotiny, an evolutionary miracle that causes some trees to release seeds only amid a season of fire. That is how Spark often feels _ Whitney's circumstances were so fraught on so many levels that they hung "the past_out to dry" and began again, finding a fresh version of themselves, their relationship, and their band after the blaze. Max and Julien are back in Chicago now, sharing a cozy walkup with a little studio, where they're already building songs for the next Whitney album. They're both in happy romances, too. Now that they let the past burn, everything is new for Max and Julien. Spark is not only Whitney's best album; it is an inspiring testament to perseverance and renewal, to best friends trusting each another enough to carry one another to the other side of this season of woe.