Spencer Krug’s Latest Album Unpacks the Mysteries and Mundanity of Songwriting

Photo credit: Simon Liem

There is simply no other songwriter like Spencer Krug.

Over his storied 25 year career—a tenure that has included numerous different projects, most notably Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown—the Canadian musician has evoked a uniquely distinct landscape of characters, stories and narratives. 

Whether referencing fantastical phantoms, dangerous monsters and mythical tales, or analyzing personal doubts and aspirations, the cerebral singer and keyboardist has managed to deliver his messages in a way unmatched by any peer. He is brainy, clever and inventive, but not high-minded to sprinkle in the occasional curse word or get uncomfortably real in his vivid descriptions.

Being one of the most gifted lyricists of his generation only makes it natural that he’s now devoted an album to the craft of songwriting—a meta, self-referential examination that picks apart and dissects his various approaches to the art of making music. With his latest release, “Same Fangs,” Krug has reaffirmed his place among the pantheon of legitimate indie rock geniuses while documenting the creative process in his own wonderfully inscrutable manner.

“I’m usually the first to be like—don’t write songs about songwriting,” said Krug. “But I cut myself a little slack in that department for this album. A lot of what is going on in my head right now is me questioning what it's like to write songs at this stage of life. I’m a 49-year-old who lives in Canada with his wife and kid in a house. I would feel like a bit of a poseur if I was writing songs filled with rage. These are more like journal entries of day-to-day life, and one thing I think about a lot in my daily life is writing songs.”

“Same Fangs” is a dizzying, byzantine work, with songs referencing other songs that weren’t written or were partially written or were abandoned altogether. The tone for the album is established from the onset, with the first track, “Get to Live,” including snippets of voice memos Krug sent to himself, offering a glimpse into how he crafts and shapes his inventions.

“It was very intentional starting the album off with that song,” said Krug. “I mean, this album gets pretty meta, right? It kind of nods to itself and there’s plenty of other songs on this record and it breaks the fourth wall. So, I wanted to start right off the bat with me working through that process—to acknowledge the self-referential nature of the album.”

The lead single off the album, “Timebomb,” follows in that same vein. Featuring a heavily-distorted piano—a cool new wrinkle for Krug—the song tracks Krug’s attempt to write a song called “Listening to Music in Cars,” which, he notes, was abandoned in favor of “Timebomb.” 

The self-referencing reaches its apex with “Listening to Music in Cars 2.5 (All The Tired Horses),” which not only chronicles “Timebomb” and the earlier version of “Listening to Music…” but also references Sunset Rubdown tours and songs and talks about incorporating the Bob Dylan classic into the track as it plays (catch all that?)

“That original song—'Listening to Music in Cars’—does still exist, it’s just bad,” said Krug. “These songs are really just another way to explore the kind of absurd nature of being a middle-aged person working in this industry. They’re about the complicated nature of being in a band, and how tours can go south and how those experiences become part of the songs.”

Always a prolific songwriter, Krug has been regularly sharing songs with his Patreon followers for the past several years, and “Same Fangs” is an assemblage of tracks he wrote mostly in 2024 and 2025. Even though the songs weren’t created for a specific album in mind, there is a clear narrative throughout, adding an obvious cohesiveness to the record. 

While it could be easy to dismiss an album with so many insidery allusions, Krug is sonically incapable of making a dull record. Buoyed by elaborate piano pieces, the album also features string flourishes, inventive sonic arrangements, and flowery vocal duets with the Canadian artist Elbow Kiss. And Krug’s voice—while not quite as animated and yelpy as in past efforts—is still a wholly one-of-a-kind instrument. It’s a reminder that Krug has never hewed to convention—while some songs in his back catalog have the forcefulness and immediacy of great pop tracks, accessibility has never been a top priority of his.

That’s all the more apt to consider, given the current newfound attention paid to Krug and Wolf Parade. The past year has been fairly seismic for the indie rock legends, with “I’ll Believe in Anything” turning into a viral hit, thanks to its prominent placement in the uber-popular Netflix series, “Heated Rivalry.” 

Now back in the zeitgeist, Wolf Parade—and Krug—are seeing a deservedly renewed interest. Initially, Krug said that there was a little noticeable difference for himself, outside of online chat, but now both he and Wolf Parade are getting more and more offers to play live shows, Unfortunately, due to some issues with the band’s work Visas, they won’t be going on any significant US jaunts until next year (Wolf Parade has only one scheduled American show—this November in Seattle.)

For longtime fans, the widespread adoration of “I’ll Believe in Anything”—a legitimate contender for best song of all time—was long overdue and much appreciated. Krug could have made a career out of replicating that titanic anthem, but he’s never seemed too interested in going down the same trodden path he’s explored before. From Sunset Rubdown to Moonface to Swan Lake to his solo material, Krug’s work has been defined by fearlessness and intense interest in exploring new territories and pushing boundaries ever further.

Which, again, makes him the ideal candidate to write an album about writing. “Same Fangs” is a testament to the artists and musicians who are averse to compromise and conformity. It’s also a paean to those who realize that the craftsmanship or art will always be a continual work in progress.

“I’ll admit that lyrics get harder to write, the songs don’t come to me as easily as they used to,” said Krug. “I still feel pretty blessed that I manage somehow to do this for a living. I care about the things I sing about it—I have to be sincere with myself—and I think I still have things to say.” 

A digital version of “Same Fangs” is available for purchase on Bandcamp here.

To become a Spencer Krug Patreon member, visit here.

Total Accord Fest Returning For Second Gathering Next Week

Total Accord Fest—a multi-week music gathering featuring a stacked collection of great local bands playing in iconic music clubs and venues throughout San Francisco—will return for its second rendition next week.

Hosted by Total Accord Agency, an artist booking and management outfit focusing exclusively on Bay Area talent, the festival will run from June 3 – 20, highlighted by headlining performers The Seshen and Brijean. 

The lineup is a ridiculously great collection of local favorites, including Al Harper, Marika Christine, Anna Hillburg, Mild Universe, Yea-Ming and the Rumors, Elujay, Outer Sunset and Silverware. The acts performing at Total Accord Fest represent a dizzying array of sounds, including neo-soul, psych-pop, indie rock, Americana, janglepop and electronica. The program was designed to be as diverse as possible, said Tyla Jones, founder of Total Accord.

“We want to reflect that the Bay Area is a melting pot of all different types of people,” said Jones. “We’re not trying to represent just one scene or one sound as an agency—that’s why the festival lineup looks the way it does.”

The event will launch next Wednesday with a festival kickoff party at Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco’s most venerable music venue. That show will feature For Horses, Outer Sunset and Davia Schendel. 

Over the next two-plus weeks, the fest will shift around a litany of beloved local clubs, including El Rio, the Independent, 4 Star Theater, Café du Nord and Kilowatt, among others.  The Seshen headlining show will happen on June 7 at the 4 Star Theater and the Brijean show will take place on June 11 at the Rickshaw Stop. 

Nearly all the acts performing at Total Accord Fest are signed with the talent management company, a reflection of the agency’s growing resonance within the local music ecosystem. 

A Bay Area native, Jones spent her adolescence attending live shows throughout the region. She moved to San Francisco in 2005 and began a side career as DJ Tylawave, immersing herself in the local scene by spinning vinyl and opening for the likes of Thee Sacred Souls, Os Mutantes, LA Witch and Fantastic Negrito.

While working mainly in the nonprofit sector for most of her time in the city, Jones stayed deeply involved with music, and eventually she took on talent booking roles for the Chapel and El Rio. Buoyed from that experience and encouraged by the likes of musician pals such as Galine Tumasyan, Jones launched Total Accord Agency in 2024.

“There was a moment after I left the Chapel that I started with a small boutique agency based in LA, where I kind of learned the ropes of booking and management, and it really caught on locally here,” said Jones. “Friends started asking me questions about routing tours and that kind of stuff. That’s when I realized I could just do this on my own—to start something where I just basically work with my friends on this.”

Since Jones founded the agency two years ago, Total Accord’s roster has exploded—with the total number of acts tripling in size. Last year’s Total Accord Fest was much smaller in scale, making the logistics and planning for the 2026 version more complicated, Jones said. Because of the work needed to carry out an operation of this kind, Jones said that Total Accord Fest probably won’t be an annual event.

“I really want to focus on our mission, which is to be a booking agency and talent management company—not a promoter,” said Jones. “We want to make these kinds of showcases really special, so when the time is right, we’ll make it happen.”

That limited edition feature of Total Accord Fest makes this year’s gathering all the more special. In addition to uplifting dozens of Bay Area artists, Total Accord is also partnering with local mainstays White Crate and BFF.fm to stage the festival, making it a truly unique and special event for the community. Local artist Michael Bridgmon—also known asJames Wavey—managed artwork for the fest, as well.

“When I started Total Accord, I wanted to combine my love of music with my background in community organizing,” said Jones. “Having a strong mission statement of what we believe in—zero discrimination of any kind, for example—was such a key element of the agency. I’m being true to who I am, and it’s amazing to see people respond to that. We don’t want to think of ourselves as just an agency—we want to be a part of a community with like-minded values. And I think this festival represents that vision.”

Show Details:
Total Accord Fest:
Where: Venues throughout San Francisco
When: June 3 – June 20
Tickets: Available for purchase at participating venues
More details: www.totalaccordagency.com

Dehd’s Jason Balla Bringing New Project Accessory to Bottom of the Hill

Photo Credit: Jason Balla

As the lead guitarist for the great Chicago garage rock trio Dehd, Jason Balla makes for an electrifying, invigorating live presence. A captivating ball of energy, Balla’s limbs are constantly moving and his beaming smile is ever-present, creating the perfect embodiment of the raucous, party-like atmosphere of the band.

Yet for his first solo album—billed under his Accessory moniker—Balla brings a distinctively different approach—a contemplative, quiet and subdued sound that showcases the breadth and depth of his artistry. Released on April 17, Accessory’s “Dust” might come as a surprise for Dehd fans expecting another reprise of indie rock antics, but Balla said the album is actually a reflection of his most natural writing tendencies.

“This music really reflects my natural state of being—like if I just pick up the guitar and I’m in a room by myself, this is the type of tempo and mood that comes out,” said Balla. “When I’m in the room with Dehd, there is a lot of excitement and energy and the music is a result of that energy. But yeah, if I’m alone, I tend to make music that’s much slower, more like a Velvet Underground thing. I just gravitate towards that feeling—it’s always been my predisposition.”

Easily one of the best albums of 2026, “Dust” is a thorough and thoughtful creation from an artist with a fully formed vision. From the abstract painting that adorns the album cover to the inspired record title to the songs that all fit within a coherent, thematic throughline, “Dust” perfectly captures the ambiguity and complexity of everyday life. On May 27, Balla and his four-piece band will play collections from “Dust” at Bottom of the Hill.

While “Dust” represents the debut album from Accessory, the project dates back nearly a decade. Balla would host Accessory XL shows in his native Chicago—offering an opportunity for an amorphous, ever-changing cast of characters to jam out together in informal live settings.

The project took a significant step forward when Balla started playing around on an old piano—a gift bequeathed to him from his late mother, who passed away in 2018. The piano had been in storage for years, but just recently Balla found enough room in his apartment to house the instrument, which provided the emotional foundation for an album anchored in vulnerability and candor.

“I’m a guitar player, first and foremost—I can’t say I’m a piano player by any means,” said Balla. “But I just tried to explore sounds with the piano. I would spend mornings having coffee and just sitting at the piano. It’s such an emotive instrument and there is so much personal emotion associated with this piano, and I think you can hear that in the record.”

“Dust” is a slowcore masterpiece, a deliberately placed, somnambulant document that is quiet and serene without feeling stark or austere. Balla carefully layers different sonic elements on top of another, building a lush landscape from simple structures in a manner that recalls genre masters like Spiritualized, Low and the Red House Painters. The multilayered, gauzy sounds on the record are epitomized by the album title, with every track feeling like it’s been processed just slightly through a grainy, sepia-toned filter.

“It was really important for me to explore the different textures of recorded music,” said Balla. “I wanted to create something that felt modern but also organic. I keep talking about painting, because I’ve been taking it up lately, but there is a book I’m reading where the author talks about the magic of mixing colors. There’s a moment where you put blue in some water. Before you do that, the blue is just blue and the water is just water. But the thing that's universally interesting to people is that 30 seconds when the paint is sending its little tendrils down creating this state of change. That’s what I want to convey with this music.”

And whereas his yawping, excitable deliveries for Dehd are the spark for the androgynous back-and-forth vocals between him and Emily Kempf, on “Dust,” Balla sings in a cooing, billowing register—an appropriate mechanism for an album dealing with weighty themes.

Throughout the album, Balla expresses pain, regret and sadness, interspersing those topics with moments of happiness and gratitude—creating that kind of fluidity and variability that one finds when mixing paint together. His best songs—tracks like “World of Pain,” “Calcium,” “Dogbite” and “Blood (Magnetic)”—are beautiful ballads, deftly expressing the complicated and complex meaning of the human experience.

To wit—for the stirring closing of “Blood {Magnetic)” Balla plaintively asks, “Who can you trust with your heart,” a question that turns into a moment of affirmation, when he repeatedly declares “trust with your heart,” over and over again.

“I really see this record as being about the beginning of something and also the end,” said Balla. “It’s grappling with all the remnants of this destruction we’re seeing in the world—where there is much hatred in our everyday life. But it’s also about the building blocks of these new possibilities. In a lot of ways, it encapsulates that hope and optimism we have to cling to in the face of all these negative aspects.”

Those are enormously profound premises to base an album around, but as “Dust” clearly illustrates, Balla is unafraid to tackle the vast gray areas that permeate our life. 

Show Details:
Accessory with Facing and Badvril
Where: Bottom of the Hill
When: 8 p.m.. Wednesday, May 27
Tickets: $16, available here.

Broncho Celebrating a Decade of “Double Vanity” at the Independent

Photo Credit: Broncho

Journeying through Broncho’s back catalog makes for a dizzying, thrilling experience. With the band’s chameleonic, ever-shifting sounds, one could be forgiven for mistaking Broncho’s five album discography as the product of five different bands. 

Ranging from scuzzed-out garage rock to slinky glam pop to propulsive new wave and moody atmospheric art rock, the Broncho oeuvre is one that’s impossible to pin down. Broncho frontman and chief songwriter Ryan Lindsey said the band never tried to intentionally create different sounding albums—they just always played what felt natural to them at the time. But he conceded that the end results make for an eclectic catalog.

“It’s funny to go back and listen to all our albums now, because I do realize how diverse sounding we are,” said Lindsey. “Maybe on a subconscious level, we were trying to make a sound that contrasted with the prior album, but there wasn’t like a master vision there. But I like how diverse we are—it feels like all these different lives we’ve lived. We can be several different versions of ourselves, but still have the same underlying spirit.”

For Broncho’s latest stretch of shows, the band is digging into their third album, “Double Vanity,” a reverb-laden, garage rock masterpiece. Last year, the Oklahoma-based outfit toured extensively in support of their newest release, “Natural Pleasure,” and because they enjoyed that jaunt so much, they decided to extend their live playing schedule. This year happened to coincide with the 10 year anniversary of “Double Vanity,” so Lindsey and company thought it would be fun to play that album in full, which they’ll do on Monday night at the Independent.

“It’s been a blast playing these songs again,” said Lindsey. “It was hard for me to relax when we first toured this record, because I was so focused on everything sounding right. ‘Double Vanity’ is a challenging album to play live, based on how we recorded it. It was almost like I was in a blackout moment when I played those songs 10 years ago. Now, it’s a lot easier for me to just have fun and play these songs. Time does good things sometimes.”

Broncho first gained fame when Lena Dunham placed the band’s punk manifesto, “It’s On,” on her hit HBO show, “Girls.” The band increased their profile even more with the release of their second album, “Just Enough Hip to Be Woman,” powered by their skittery new wave number, “Class Historian,” one of the undeniably best songs of 2014.

The group could have just xeroxed the template for “Class Historian” for the rest of their career, but they took a daring left turn with “Double Vanity.” Dense, heavy and dark, “Double Vanity” took its cue from the psychedelic garage rock sounds of 13th Floor Elevators and the glam gauziness of outfits such as T. Rex. 

While there are plenty of classic cuts on the record, it was a more challenging and less accessible listen than their prior efforts. Still, it has a formidable place in the band’s discography, cementing their reputation as fearless risk-takers.

“We had that record finished and for some reason, it just didn’t feel right,” said Lindsey. “We just threw everything into the reverb chamber—with those slower paced songs, it just felt natural to do that. But that meant those songs ended up taking on a lot of space—they had a lot going on.”

Although the album represented a challenging shift, it remains a fan favorite for Broncho backers. Songs like “Fantasy Boys,” “Jenny Loves Jenae” and “Senora Borealis” have been live staples since the release of the “Double Vanity.”

The songs from “Double Vanity” also offer an intriguing contrast to the cuts from “Natural Pleasures,” the band’s 2025 release. During the “Decade of Double Vanity” tour, Broncho have played songs from that album as well, and those tracks are airy, atmospheric and bright, providing an exciting juxtaposition for crowd-goers

For Lindsey, the opportunity to play both old and new songs live has offered him a moment to do something he rarely does—reflect on the longevity and success of Broncho.

“Looking back, having these conversations, it’s almost like therapy for me,” said Lindsey. “I’m always focused on what’s next—on moving forward. So, it’s been nice to go back to the beginning and appreciate what we’ve done.”

Show Details:
Broncho
Where: The Independent
When: 8 p.m., Monday, May 18
Tickets: $42, available here.

British Post-Rockers caroline Coming to Great American Music Hall

Photo Credit: Henry Redcliff

Listening to the music of the eight-piece British art collective caroline (stylized with a lowercase c) is like hearing a love-crossed conversation between two distant travelers. The vocals come at you from all directions, sounding cavernous, pleading and desperate to be heard. 

The effect creates a distinct presence of space and geography—this yearning feeling that if one of the participants was only just a little bit closer, a little less removed, then that sense of unrequitedness would evaporate. Yet those distances remain, adding to the beautifully forlorn and fated undertone to the songs.

That persistent mood of satisfaction being just beyond the fingertips is not some accident, as the songwriters behind caroline—whose 2025 release, “caroline 2” was one of the best albums of the year—intentionally sought to create a dialogue of sorts within their tracks. No where is that approach more evident than the haunting, “Two Riders Down,” a ghostly, stirring epic from the second half of “caroline 2.”

“We wanted that song to be this really strong contrast between the first half and the second,” said Jasper Llewellyn, the band’s founding member. “We actually first recorded that song in a church, and we assigned the drums to one speaker and the vocals to another speaker and the guitar to another speaker. The idea was to spatialize the recording—to make everything sound distant and removed.”

The band actually ditched the original demo of that effort, but the original intent remained in their final product, which was recorded back in a studio awash with reverb. Like so many of the other songs on “caroline 2,” “Two Riders Down” is a testament to the grand ambitions of the band’s creative process—one that recalls early aughts acts like Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire. The band’s inventive and eclectic song structures evoke Midwestern emo outfits such as American Football and Cap’n Jazz and their comfort with yawning negative space is reminiscent of post-rock groups like Slint and Talk Talk.

On May 18, caroline will bring their big-tent ensemble to the Great American Music Hall for the group’s first ever performance in San Francisco.

“We are incredibly buzzed about playing in San Francisco,” said multi-instrumentalist Casper Hughes. “For some reason, my main cultural references to the city are from ‘The Princess Diaries.’ So yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to making new memories now.”

Fans who make it to the Great American Music Hall will be in for a cathartic, emotionally rewarding experience. “caroline 2” plays out like a journey, a travelogue detailing the challenges of reaching genuine human connection and finding hope in a fractured society. 

From the opening track, “Total Euphoria,” where the narrator asks “Did we ever talk about /  How you left them?” to the album closer, the aptly titled “Beautiful Ending,” which is marked by more questions—"Did you recognize it? / I'm halfway off my island,” “caroline 2” is filled with the kind of existential riddles that permeate modern life.

But this is not a cynical album. Despite the chasms that appear in the song structures, there are persistent feelings of optimism, a gritty determinism that invokes hope against all odds. That sentiment is captured so eloquently in the band’s most famous song, “Tell Me I Never Knew That,” where guest vocalist Caroline Polachek mournfully and defiantly sings, “I don't even know if I'm alive / But I don't wanna be somebody else.”

Polachek, who started off as a vocalist for one-time indie rock darlings Chairlift, is now a legitimate pop star, making her appearance on “caroline 2” as a big-time coup for the band.

“We actually heard that she was a fan of the band, and so when we wrote that vocal line, we thought it would sound good in her voice,” said Llewellyn. “So, we just sent her an early demo of the songs to see if she was up for doing something and she said yes. We were really nervous to send her something, but she ended up making what was perhaps the weakest song on the album into one of the best. That’s how talented she is.”

While Polachek’s vocal performances are a highlight of the album, her contributions end up blending seamlessly into the rest of “caroline 2”—they aren’t some strange outlier. That can be attributed in large part to the band’s distinctly democratic vibe, an egalitarian, measured outlook that is grounded in genuine affection for one another. While caroline started out as a trio in 2017, the group’s ever-expanding roster has required the band to be intentional and understanding in how they work with one another.

“This band has always been based on the existing and interconnected web of relationships and friendships between us,” said Hughes. “And I think to maintain those kinds of relationships takes effort—especially under the conditions of touring together and making music together in one room. And I think that’s one of the things I’m most proud of when it comes to this band—is how purposeful we’ve been in maintaining those relationships.”

While never overt in “caroline 2,” that commitment to one another can be seen as the ultimate  moral compass for the album. It’s reflected in those long and distant, back-and-forth exchanges that occur throughout the record. 

Yes, those talks are strained and arduous—difficult to hear over the canyons of time, space and distance. But they are happening, nonetheless. Despite everything, caroline is keeping the conversation going.

Show Details:
caroline with Joshua Chuquimia Crampton
Where: Great American Music Hall
When: 8 p.m., Monday, May 18
Tickets: $34, available here.

In Photos: King Tuff at the Chapel

Kyle Thomas, aka King Tuff, stopped by the Chapel on May 2 in support of his seventh studio album, the wonderfully titled, “Moo.” Formerly based in Los Angeles and now living back in his hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont, Thomas’ latest album is an ode to his bucolic Northeast roots.

For his performance at the Chapel, Thomas focused most of the setlist on his latest offerings before closing out the night with his classic anthem, “Bad Thing.”

Broken Dreams Club photographer Aaron Levy-Wolins attended the raucous Saturday night show. A gallery of photos, all credited to Aaron, are below:

Broken Dreams Club Interview: The New Pornographers

Photo Credit: The New Pornographers

On March 27, Canadian indie rock legends the New Pornographers released their 10th studio album, “The Former Site Of.” The release came after a tumultuous period for the band, following the arrest and conviction of drummer Joe Seiders on possession of child pornography.

Understandably subdued and emotionally complex, “The Former Site Of” eschews the through-the-roof choruses and ebullient flourishes of the band’s past efforts, instead focusing on setting a distinct mood and atmosphere. The album is an undeniable success, a clear distillation of a band evolving from its easier power-pop roots into something broader and harder-to-define.

Broken Dreams Club spoke with the New Pornographers’ chief songwriter, A.C. Newman, about moving on past the group’s recent tribulations, keeping their band name, appreciating music and fans more than ever, and revisiting San Francisco, where he essentially lived off and on for a year.

Read more here:

So, you’re now about two weeks into this big North American tour. How are the shows going so far?

They’ve been really great, you know? We’ve never been so well rehearsed, because our first three shows were Boston, New York City and Philadelphia. We felt like we couldn’t learn as we go with those shows to start the tour. We had to be in absolute fighting mode. We did basically twice as much rehearsing as we normally do. But it was great to just jump on stage for your first gig and feel really confident.

Just like the New Pornographers, I’m a huge fan of Okkervil River. How did you all connect with Will Sheff for this tour?

Will is a good friend. He lives in LA and we live in Woodstock, so we don’t get to see him as much now. We have a cottage on our property and there was a point where he and his girlfriend were in the process of leaving New York and they were kind of in this in-between living situation. So, we just said, come live in our cottage. They ended up staying for six months. It was this amazing experience. I consider him one of my really good friends, so it’s nice to spend this month together.

You played a few shows last month, and now you’re in the middle on this big tour. How nice has it been to get out in front of fans after what has been a tumultuous two years for the band?

It’s been good—then whole experience has been kind of sobering. I felt like a drunk person who sobers up and got a little bit of clarity. You really see what you have to appreciate in the world. These past two years really made me appreciate music more. It made me go onto this tour with this attitude, of ‘I'm looking forward to doing this, and I like playing music with my friends, and I think we're really good.’ If there’s less people because of what happened, well, I can't control that. But that hasn't been the reaction at all. I’ve felt, for lack of a better word, a certain amount of love. There is this kind of, ‘we got your back, man, we haven't left you’ feel to the audiences. And I appreciate that so much. It’s a real thing that I've never really felt before. I mean, sometimes people are on stage and you see a lot of fake sincerity. But for me, right now I feel like putting my hand on my chest and saying, ‘oh my god, you're still here, thank you’ after every show.

I’m not sure how much more you want to delve into the arrest of Joe Seiders, but, if I could ask—did the thought ever cross your mind of ditching the New Pornographers name and just moving forward as A.C. Newman? 

In the initial couple of days after it happened, everybody was like, ‘well, you can't call yourself that name anymore.’ And then it all passed. You realize people have forgotten a month later—people can barely remember it happened. I was talking to Eleanor Friedberger a little while ago and she was asking how I’ve been and I said, ‘well, it’s been a crazy year.’ And she had no idea what I was talking about. I told her to Google us and you’ll figure it out. It just doesn’t feel that important anymore. I mean, obviously it was a horrible thing, but it's nothing I want to dwell on. I also don't feel the urge to avoid it. Yeah, it was horrible for everybody, but we got through it. 

Ok—let’s talk about this great new album, “The Former Site Of.” The album title and even the font on the album cover seem meant to delineate the difference between the New Pornographers of 2026 and those of 2000. This album is more subdued and emotionally ambiguous. I’m assuming it would be disingenuous to try and constantly recreate the feel and tenor of “Mass Romantic” at this point in your career, right?

Yeah—I've realized there really is no reward for that approach. There have been songs I’ve written in recent years that I’ve been convinced people will like, and that’s never been the case.  And I don't think this album is any more subdued than “Challengers,” but maybe it’s more subdued than “Mass Romantic.” But when we’re playing songs from this album they seem to flow seamlessly with songs from our back catalog. To me, it feels very fluid.

The album feels pretty drenched in this kind of gallows humor. ”Wish You Could See Me I’m Killing It,” has this hyperbolic title which contrasts with this very quiet, almost somber song, and the album opener, “Great Princess Story,” kicks off the record with this line “quite a view from my deck chair/Sailing on this ship of doom.” Were you in a particular mood of not suffering fools when writing this album?

A lot of people have said this record is kind of downbeat, but for me, it was really about travelling through tragedy. It’s a record of not dwelling on things. It was about accepting bad things have happened, looking straight at them, and then moving on. Maybe that bums people out, but I actually think this is a hopeful record. “Great Princess Story” is meant to be this dark comedy about a woman stuck on a cruise ship during Covid. I was really trying to write like Nick Lowe for that one. He has a great way of writing songs that are funny, but aren’t comedy.

There are also these poignant moments of resilience. ”Pure Sticker Shock” has this very quiet but important message about your self-worth. Was it important to include songs on this album that reminded yourself and others and your value—to almost act as a positive mantra for the band? A reminder of how meaningful the New Pornographers are to so many people?

I mean, I appreciate that. I try to remember that it doesn't matter if you're the most popular band, as long as you have your own niche. I have a son who’s 14 years old and when I’m around him, it reminds me that everybody doesn't need to love you, but you do want this one person to love you. The people you care about are the ones that matter. It’s so important to appreciate everybody that's in your life, and not spend your life trying to convince more people to love you. 

The album is this test case of the power of restraint. The songs build and gather momentum without this big crescendo. Did you try to maintain that element of suspense—to show how songs can be emotionally powerful and cathartic even without that big soaring moment?

I think so—it was also just this kind of instinct I had for the album. I found myself removing things at the end of the record. I wanted to boil it down to just essential things—to get rid of all the unnecessary detail. If I could turn something off and not feel anything was missing, I would leave it off. 

Synths have always been a part of the power pop formula for New Pornographers, but they really take on a more noticeable and profound presence on the “Former Site Of.” They’re more about setting mood and atmosphere than about adding to this cacophony of sounds like they have in the past. Was there a new emphasis on exploring how these electronic elements can be used to create this specific feel on the album?

Well, I haven’t really studied our albums, but I think in the past, we were very much a rock band that would just add synths over the top of everything. But for this album, the synthesizers feel almost like the rhythm section. I wanted to have these folks songs that were really driven by synths, kind of these Americana psychedelic songs. I think of songs like ‘Wichita Lineman.” That’s very much an Americana song,  but also this weird psychedelic song as well.

The title track is a pretty epic way to close out the album, and if you look at the lyrics too closely, one could almost see it as a swan song for The New Pornographers. Was that intentional? Do you see this as a coda for the band? (I’m really hoping that’s not the case.)

With that song, it really had to be the first or last song on the album. I thought “Great Princess Story” and “Former Site Of” were good bookends. We ended up closing with “Former Site Of,” but that wasn’t supposed to be any commentary on the band. The song is about a town getting buried underwater, because America has to expand. It was saying how we as individuals are being sacrificed to the country. This unstoppable growth.

Because of some of the band members, you’ve been dubbed a “supergroup” for decades, which I’m sure gets annoying (and apologies for bringing this up again!) Neko Case is a strong presence on this album, but Dan Bejar is absent. Did you reach out to him at all about participating in this album or was he just too busy with his solo thing? 

It’s weird, because Dan and I are friends, but he basically left the band at the end of 2000. He went to Spain and I thought, ‘well, I guess he's gone’. And then he came back in 2002 and I said, ‘since you're back, you want to be on the next record?’ And he said, ‘sure’. It’s kind of always been the case of nothing being written in stone with Dan. He’s a friend of mine and we talk and text on a semi-regular basis. I know he’s got his own thing. There’s always been a good dynamic between us, because I always know where he stands and I don’t try to push him on anything. So we just didn’t connect for this album.

Are you excited to be coming back to San Francisco? Do you always feel like you get a nice reaction when you play here? I first saw you guys play with Belle and Sebastian at the old Concourse Design Center here—it was an amazing show.

I love coming back to San Francisco. Before I met my wife, I was dating a woman in San Francisco, so I basically lived here for about a year. I would just wander around by myself, because it’s such a walkable city. I just love the vibe of the place. Every time I come back I always visit my favorite breakfast places. I love Zazie in Cole Valley. And Mama’s in North Beach.

Do you know anything about the Castro Theatre? It’s a historical movie theater that was recently renovated.

I've never been there. I know where it is and I can picture the neighborhood around it and what it looks like, but I've never been inside. I was always sad that I never got to see the Wizard of Oz there. Sounds like it was a real experience.

You’ve got tour dates lined up through the end of May. What’s the rest of the year look like? Will you be playing more shows?

Yeah, we're doing another three and a half weeks of touring in September. We will be hitting places we didn't get to this first time around. I don’t know if we’ll be doing Europe and the UK. I just kind of go where I'm told, and when I go home, I just keep working on music. That's kind of my life. 

Show Details:
The New Pornographers with Will Sheff
Where: The Castro Theatre
When: 8 p.m., Monday, May 11
Tickets: $58 - $126, available here.

Andrew St. James Beautifully Mines The Past With “Home Demos, Vol. 1.”

Photo credit: Cesar Maria

What would it be like to have a conversation with your past self? How would you interact with a younger version of your DNA? Would it feel as if you’re talking to a different person altogether?

That was the kind of existential experiment that Andrew St. James recently grappled with while revisiting his vast back catalog of demos and home recordings—some dating back more than a decade. 

“When I was going back to listen to these old songs, I would hear this energy there that I still personally react to,” said St. James. “It was nice to remind myself of that person who I was back then—someone who decided to make a life out of playing music as a 17-year-old. It felt special, and it definitely re-inspired me to continue doing this thing.”

St. James, the prolific singer-songwriter whose solo career enmeshes with group projects like Fast Times, Juan Wayne and Lucky, took to his archives this year in an effort to clear out dozens and dozens of previously recorded tracks that never made it to an official album. The result is “Home Demos, Vol. 1” an 11-song compendium released on April 10 that documents in real time the evolution, maturation and growth of a musician coming into his own.

Any collection that draws upon years and years of recorded material is sure to elicit big emotions, but “Home Demos, Vol.1” is particularly profound. That’s due to two primary reasons—the poignant tenderness of St. James’ lyrics and the bravado range of his vocal delivery.

Many of the songs on the album were written when St. James was a teenager or barely into his 20s and that youthful expressiveness is endearingly evident. When you’re young, the stakes are always incredibly high, and St. James conveys that thrilling immediacy throughout the record, most notably in tearjerker ballads like “The Great Divide,” which was written in 2017. 

A shadowy and austere fingerpicked acoustic number, that song is an impossibly heartfelt rendition of regret and loss, with St. James pleading out lines such as “I’m sorry if I hurt you / It makes me want to die,” and “I love you all my life / And that’s forever.” (I mean, wow.) With confessions so rough and ragged, the normal recourse would be to keep them hidden forever. St. James is brave enough to finally air them out, nine years after they were first written. 

“I was obviously writing and singing that song in an extremely vulnerable state where everything felt like it needed to be stripped down,” said St. James. “That’s one of those songs that I probably wouldn’t write now, but I clearly had these deep, intensely personal feelings at that time. I was drawn to that song now just because it is so personal.”

Adding to the resonance of those pleading words is St. James' voice, a magnificently warbly instrument. Recalling indie folk artists like Saintseneca’s Zac Little and Kristian Matsson of the Tallest Man on Earth, St. James natural register is one of mournful desperation, a craggy appeal that elevates every lyric into the contrasting realms of dire straits or unchecked euphoria. The recordings on the album are all in their infancy period, mostly just demos that have not been mastered—heightening the unvarnished and raw sentimentality of the songs.

While the album is deeply intense, St. James clearly had some fun with these songs. He elongates every vowel to ridiculously cheeky lengths on the Supertramp-indebted “Nobody Else,” and he caterwauls like the great Hamilton Leithauser on the jaunty waltz “Reasons,” which, at just two years old is the newest track on the album. 

While St. James has been consistently writing music since he was a youngster—releasing his first solo album, “Doldrums,” while he was still in high school—over the past several years he’s devoted most of his professional career to collaborative efforts, from the desert rock trappings of Juan Wayne to the Strokes-inflected Fast Times to the alt-country leanings of Lucky, his most recent endeavor.

While St. James said those partnerships have been deeply rewarding, they also impelled him to revisit his back catalog. His last solo release, the wonderfully nostalgic “Light After Darkness,” was released nearly five years ago, an unexpectedly lengthy break between records.

“I made this choice when I was a teenager that this is what I was going to do,” said St. James. “There have been some successes, and maybe some failures, but it’s brought me to all these amazing different places and I’ve had so many great experiences. I made this agreement with myself when I was young that I would stay committed to this, and, in the past couple of years I’ve really been focused on playing with others in bands. That’s been great, but it’s also taken me away from the kind of thing I wanted to do when I first started, which is to put out music under my own name. You know, I’ve gone too far down this road to not honor all the time and effort I put into making my own music.” 

As evidenced by the Vol. 1 name on this batch of albums, St. James has plenty more songs to release. He’s planning on putting out at least two more compilations of older material while continuing to work on new music. By drawing down on that backlog, he can renew his focus on songwriting—a sort of creative clearing of the cobwebs. St. James said he hopes to issue some of those newly penned songs for a proper album later this year. 

When that new release comes out, it will add to a sprawling and impressive inventory, reflecting that vow St. James made to himself when he was just a kid—to see this life through as a creative person. 

“I’m hoping I don’t overload people with all this music, but I think I need to put everything out at this point,” said St. James. “I’m looking to get as much done as possible. It’s funny, because I’ve been doing this so long, but this is a way of giving me a little more courage, I guess, with my personal output. I’m ready to put myself out there again.”

Andrew St. James “Home Demos, Vol.1” is available for purchase on Bandcamp here.

The Reds, Pinks and Purples Returning With Another Stellar Album, “Acknowledge Kindness”

Photo Credit: Samara Dun

“No sunshine / Darkness at noon.”

Starting off an album with such an unremittingly bleak lyric is an incredibly bold move, even without considering that the line references a novel written about the dangers of totalitarianism. 

In the hands of a lesser talent, that couplet could come off as self-serious or melodramatic, but we’re talking about Glenn Donaldson here, the maestro of the San Francisco dream pop outfit the Reds, Pinks and Purples. Enveloping that opening line in a misty haze of warm feedback and acoustic guitar movements and delivering it with his soft and plaintive vocal styling, Donaldson somehow manages to sound inspiring and hopeful—like it’s a knowing gesture from a kindred spirit. 

Ultimately, that track—“Is It You, or Is It Them”—which kicks off the Reds, Pinks and Purples newest album, “Acknowledge Kindness,” evolves into an anthem of pure empathy, with Donaldson wondering in the end, “if you’re alright.” The song is a stunning way to introduce the album and the latest example of Donaldson’s unparalleled talent for wringing stirring and soaring emotions out of sad, ruminative ballads.

“I think I’ve resolved myself to writing miserable songs,” said Donaldson. “But I think I do it with some sense of wit. And there are enough twists and turns to the songs that make them interesting. I just lean into what I know best, which is writing big, emotive music.”

Donaldson specializes in writing strangely accessible pop tunes, but there are entire worlds to each track. His songs are imbued with atmosphere, layered with meticulous details that add depth and profundity to melodies and hooks that are inherently approachable. 

He takes a shoegaze application to song structure—marrying the ugly and the beautiful—without the maximalist, blown out noise of that genre. In the vein of acts like Spiritualized, Red House Painters or Low, Donaldson starts with a simple foundation—a small piano piece or minor guitar chord—and adds synths, samples and other DIY wrinkles that create lush, verdant sonic landscapes. Call it art pop or slowcore, but there is something undefinable and unique about the Reds, Pinks and Purples.

Throughout his prolific career—which long predates his more recent success with the Red, Pinks and Purples—Donaldson has mined a prodigious back catalog of singles-sounding tracks to assemble his records. But for “Acknowledge Kindness,” which will be released on April 24 through Fire Records, he took on a more focused direction. 

“I think this album has been the most deliberate Reds, Pinks and Purples one I’ve made,” said Donaldson. “I really spent months working on this one, whereas in the past, I’d kind of post something on Bandcamp as soon as a song was done, so I wouldn’t obsess over it too much. With ‘Acknowledge Kindness,’ I tried to create each song with an atmosphere that would be less immediate. I wanted people to sit with these songs for a bit.”

These are profound songs for sure—dealing with loss, nostalgia, uncertainty and doubt—but Donaldson is no mordant bummer. For every strikingly sad detail, there is a flash of humor. 

A perfect example of that approach is “Emo Band,” a standout track from “Acknowledge Kindness.” Seemingly a snarky riposte about pitiable, aging rockers, upon closer inspection, the song morphs into a kindly ode to those who refuse to give up on their dreams.

“I feel like American culture really pushes artists out a certain age,” said Donaldson. “I think that’s started to change in the last decade, especially in Europe, but there is this sense like, you have a band in college and then you give it up. There’s a little self-parody in there for sure, as someone who’s in a band and definitely not in college anymore.”

In addition to those fully formed character sketches, “Acknowledge Kindness” sprinkles in plenty of references to the Richmond District, the sleepy San Francisco neighborhood that has emerged as a flourishing and dynamic artistic center, due in large parts to residents like Donaldson. Tracks like “Blue Heron Lake” and “Houses” implicitly reference the neighborhood, and there is a misty, salt-speckled feel to the songs that’s reminiscent of the western community. Donaldson records in his home studio, meaning the Richmond can literally be heard in his songs.

“There are actual bird sounds throughout the record, because I record with my windows open,” said Donaldson. “If you’re listening on headphones, you’ll hear the birds coming at the end of tracks. So yeah, the Richmond is literally leaking into the recording.”

Although not an official record release show, the Reds, Pinks and Purples will perform for the first time following the debut of “Acknowledge Kindness” with an April 29 show at the 4 Star Theater (in the Richmond, of course) opening for American Moon and Mo Dotti. 

Donaldson said he’s working on additional live plans for 2026, although he concedes that, given the current dismal state of world affairs, it’s a strange time to be embarking on grand tours.  

“It’s a little hard to get into the mindset of, like, we’re gonna bring joy and happiness to people when the fucking world is on fire,” said Donaldson. “But we’ll figure out a way to make it happen.”

It may be odd, yes, but in many ways, the Reds, Pinks and Purples are the perfect band for the moment. If anyone can find a way to identify and extract some communal bliss out of these woebegone times, it’s Glenn Donaldson.

Show Details:
The Reds, Pinks and Purples with American Moon and Mo Dotti
Where: 4 Star Theater
When: 8 p.m., Wednesday, April 29
Tickets: $20, available here.

“Acknowledge Kindness” is available for pre-order on Bandcamp here.