Singer-songwriter Molly Hamilton and guitarist Robert Earl Thomas – better known as Widowspeak – create music in which they combine hazy dream pop, country twang, and indie pop jangle which is understated yet filled with moods that linger. Widowspeak was originally anchored by warm, expansive arrangements, references to 90’s dream pop, 60’s psychedelia, and a certain unshakeable Pacific Northwestness.

The group’s sound was at its foggiest on 2011’s album Widowspeak, where Thomas cranked out walls of distorition that cocooned Hamilton’s moody murmurs. Over time, however, their music grew more refined and varied on albums such as 2015’s All Yours, which added sparkle to their songwriting and sound, and on 2017’s heavier and more aggressive Expect the Best. With 2020’s mellow, yet politically minded Plum and the dreamy reflections on creativity and change on 2022’s Jacket, Widowspeak made increasingly timeless and relevant music.

This last album, Jacket, is a present and comfortable record, imbued with a sense of collective pause and the ease of a band at the top of their game. For all its familiar textures, it still feels entirely fresh within that canon: proudly a guitar record, a rock record, a songwriter’s record. But most of all, a Widowspeak record.

Macie Stewart
‘Mouth Full of Glass’ is the debut album by Chicago singer, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Macie Stewart (She/They). Macie’s story is one of finding solace and strength in solitude, where lush arrangements search for the meaning of self, both within and without partnership. Exploring loneliness, as well as the growth and beauty blooming from it, Macie’s inner meditations reassess their own relationships in a singular voice that could ring true to anyone.