Mind Music Palace

Brand new signings to Carpark, this is a reissue of their debut, originally released in 2021. It’s fitting that Philadelphia guitarist Victoria Rose and Baltimore producer/musician Stone Filipczak named their band @ (pronounced “At”) — a symbol that calls to mind the detachment of an email exchange or a Twitter mention.

The folk-pop duo created their debut album Mind Palace Music almost entirely remotely, sending each other recordings over iMessage from their respective cities throughout fall/winter 2020. But although its creators were 100 miles away, the 11-track album gleams with a sense of closeness, tied together with @’s penchant for deeply personal and candid lyrics. Originally released in April 2021, the album is getting a reissue from Carpark.

Rose and Filipczak are just as inspired by the thoughtful delicacy of ambient pioneers like Laurie Spiegel as they are by the timeless quality of singer-songwriters like Vashti Bunyan. You can feel the influence of those ‘70s folk greats on songs like “Where’d You Put Me,” a drum-free incantation that culminates with a flute solo from Filipczak.

Elsewhere, @ evoke the tender drone and foolproof melodies of Elliott Smith, Alex G, or Sparklehorse, like on the spare acoustic ditty “Friendship is Frequency” or the bittersweet “Cut From Toxic Cloth”: “While I'm waiting for my mind and face to sync/I smile to my heart and I think/I like you just the way you are,” Filipczak murmurs on the latter.

A subtle eeriness looms in the background throughout Mind Palace Music, preventing it from feeling too outdated or hackneyed. With an affinity for blending digital with analog elements, @ describe Mind Palace Music as “hyperfolk,” though the record never feels self-indulgent - hitting the sweet spot between pleasantly familiar.