today’s indie picks all reward patience: a witty, vintage-rock take on heartbreak, a decade-in-the-making shoegaze debut, a slow-burn guitar rock build that pays off in full, and a folk anthem for every overlooked artist out there. four tracks that all know exactly what they’re building toward.
what a little moonlight could do – tom minor
tom minor spins moonlit melancholy into a genuinely upbeat slice of kinks-esque vintage rock
what a little moonlight could do wears its title with real wit, all seasonal wordplay and vintage rock swagger hiding some genuinely harrowing subject matter underneath. minor’s gift is keeping that darkness dancing rather than ruminating on it. and the uptempo, catchy arrangement doing a lot of the emotional heavy lifting. melodically is where it really shines, and the guitar work? it’s great. and the whole thing ends up a neat, clever and exciting little musical package.
friend of the blog tom minor is a london n1 based singer-songwriter working under the banner of what he calls existential indie, pulling from indie rock, new wave, punk, power pop, psychedelic and garage rock, soul, reggae and r&b all at once. after years writing for other artists, this is entirely his own project, and that ownership comes through in every genre-hopping choice he makes. his best single yet.
thank u for making this tom minor 🌘
silent eulogy – a wider horizon
a wider horizon turns a decade-old demo into a genuinely haunting shoegaze statement
silent eulogy channels the dreamy atmospherics of slowdive and cocteau twins before building toward a massive, shout-along climax, and that contrast suits the subject matter perfectly, a relationship dying in silence through failed communication. originally written as a demo back in 2010 for a former band, it sat unreleased for over a decade before jacob seal finally resurrected and transformed it into a fully realized statement. the production is lush without losing any clarity. it’s a genuinely striking debut.
a wider horizon is the solo project of jacob seal, a 46-year-old fpga engineer and lifelong musician based in fino mornasco, italy, who built a basement studio in the como region to record entirely on his own terms. this marks his first fully independent release after years working within band structures, done around a full-time job and raising a young child. that kind of late-night dedication says a lot about how much this project means to him.
thank u for making this a wider horizon 🕯️
important questions – carl krausnick
carl krausnick builds important questions from a single-sitting demo into a genuinely rousing slow burn
important questions opens on quiet, twangy reflection before gradually stacking layer upon layer into a genuinely rousing, distorted finish, the kind of slow build that rewards patience. krausnick wrote and demoed the whole thing in a single sitting, and a surprising amount of that original spontaneous take made it into the final version. pedal steel player tyler nuffer, brought in for the first time after krausnick found him on instagram, reshapes the track in ways that feel essential rather than decorative. it’s a genuinely raw, immediate listen.
carl krausnick is a memphis, tennessee based artist who played nearly every instrument on important questions himself, cycling through five different electric guitars over the course of the track. it’s the first single from his second album, following his debut, dining companion, which he self-recorded almost entirely alone across roughly sixty songs. that kind of prolific, hands-on process is clearly still paying off.
thank u for making this carl krausnick 🎸
ordinary means – ryan yingst
ryan yingst champions overlooked, everyday art with a genuinely rousing folk anthem
ordinary means is built from quotes yingst collected from friends and peers who devote their lives to their craft, often overlooked, and turns those frustrations into a wider calling to embrace good art wherever it’s found, popularity and funding be damned. it plays like a genuine plea for human connection dressed up in warm, classic-sounding folk. it’s not really about any one person’s experience, and that universality is what makes it land. it’s a genuinely thoughtful, well-meaning listen.
ryan yingst is a philadelphia based indie folk artist who studied jazz guitar and audio engineering at duquesne university before touring through pittsburgh and nashville, where he worked alongside rising folk act tophouse. ordinary means precedes his upcoming ep, a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in, out september 12th, named after a raymond chandler quote. that kind of literary attention to detail tracks with how considered this song feels.
thank u for making this ryan yingst 🖋️
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