Endearments - An Always Open Door

“Initially, Marksson’s vocals feel airy and weightless, sighing as the band’s glittering guitar tones churn away. Yet, Nair and Haywood give the track a propulsive kick, ratcheting up the energy on the chorus as the drums pound, the guitars gleam, and Marksson’s vocals take flight.” – UNDER THE RADAR 

“…the band has successfully risen to the top of a hectic New York City pop scene, honoring the genre with hazy arrangements while digging deeper emotionally on every release.” – GLIDE 

“The band’s love of ‘80s new wave and 2000s indie rock collides in real time, marrying dynamic verses with big, cathartic pop choruses. It’s that friction – between tenderness and sharpness, uplift and undoing – that makes the listening experience so intoxicating, and so human.” – ATWOOD MAGAZINE 

“‘Real Deal’ sets the tone with a melancholic look at a fading relationship, built around a slow-climbing arrangement and tightly wound drama.” – NEW NOISE 

“…An Always Open Door (Trash Casual) is an effortlessly confident debut, boasting the sort of sharp songwriting and plentiful hooks that should expand the group’s reach.” – MAGNET MAGAZINE 

“The smooth twists and turns of the song and its arrangement bear similarities to the music of Youth Group and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, but its tale of everyday sadness also reminded me of The Go-Betweens in the way its superficially upbeat demeanour doesn’t try to hide the pain and loss that lies beneath.” – ANALOGUE TRASH 

On Friday, Brooklyn’s Endearments will release 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.

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.

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.

Later this month, Endearments will make their way to Austin, TX to perform at SXSW as an Official Showcasing Artist. In celebration of their record release, they will play a hometown show on March 20 at Alphaville in Brooklyn, NY. The band will also be supporting The Sheila Divine on select tour dates in May and June.  See all upcoming tour dates here and contact us with any requests!