ENDEARMENTS DEBUT ALBUM!!
Brooklyn’s Endearments releases their debut album, An Always Open Door via Trash Casual. Steadily unveiling the album since the beginning of this year, the trio of vocalist/bassist Kevin Marksson, guitarist Anjali Nair, and drummer Will Haywood Smith have created nine tracks of emotionally dense and instrumentally lush synth-backed indie rock — Stream.
The music of Endearments has always turned a mirror on the inner self, reflecting life’s deeply personal, often painful moments in the light of clarity and new resolve. Drawing on the emotive qualities of 80s synthpop and late-90s emo in equal measure, An Always Open Door fine-tunes this heartfelt songcraft, widening the band’s influences and turning up the volume while maintaining the raw lyrical storytelling that’s made them a mainstay in Brooklyn’s highly competitive scene.
Marksson’s blitzing, blistering inner monologue on “Marianne” and the melancholic explosiveness of “Real Deal” conjure comparisons to the likes of Camera Obscura and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart; at the same time, Nair’s stirring, wall-of-sound guitars on “Summersun” and Haywood Smith’s maximalist drums on “Saline” evoke the textures of shoegaze and the driving rhythm of big beat.
“‘Saline’ is one of my favorite tracks on the record because it was a chance for us to indulge in some real musical maximalism,” shares Marksson. “We wanted the song to channel the kind of beats and synths you might hear from Ride or Chemical Brothers, which was a treat for Will on the drums. Lyrically the song is about watching someone you love fall into destructive patterns, and knowing when it’s finally time to walk away.”
This shift towards energetic indie rock accompanies a change in the band’s approach to songwriting, one that trades raw immediacy for meditative contemplation. “When I wrote the first two Endearments EPs, Father of Wands and It Can Be Like This, I was only recently outside of the events that inspired those songs: a failed marriage; a hopeful new relationship,” Marksson recalls. “When I sat down to write lyrics for our first full-length record, I had no intention of interrogating those memories and feelings again. Nevertheless, as the songs took shape, I felt myself looking back at the last six years with a renewed sense of curiosity.”
The end result is a record that reveals and reevaluates the past, foregrounding emotional truths through performances that are as kinetic as they are introspective. Produced by Abe Seiferth (Nation of Language, Car Seat Headrest) and featuring additional vocals from Liv Price (Forever Honey) and guitars from Chris Croarkin (Diary), the album blends dreamy and down-to-earth influences into a vibrant, varied, and dynamic image of the band’s inner world.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
March 20 - Alphaville - Brooklyn, NY (album release show)
May 14 - Electric City - Buffalo, NY^
May 15 - Middle Ages Beer Hall - Syracuse, NY^
June 4 - The Sultan Room - Brooklyn, NY^
^ supporting The Sheila Divine