Searows - Death in the Business of Whaling

Accepting it's very early days still, this is my album of 2026 so far.

I can anticipate an objection that music that so precisely hits the midpoint between Phoebe Bridgers, Ethel Cain and Laura Stevenson is targeting a range too narrow and too prone to reverse-engineering - and it's true that this music hits me with the shock, not of the new, but of the somehow already-known, like it's an album that I used to cherish but haven't heard in a decade.

Especially it's in the slight catch in singer Alec Duckart's voice that implies an iceberg of devastation only the tip of which can be seen above the surface of the water, as if he is laboring to suppress his own grief in order to provide comfort to another.

Anyway, I love it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2gRCei6yXk

When I first heard Searows, my reaction proceeded something like this: first listen—he sounds exactly like Phoebe Bridgers (shrug); second listen—he sounds exactly like Phoebe Bridgers but he may actually be a better songwriter (holy shit); third listen—who’s Phoebe Bridgers? His songs get under your skin quickly and then take up permanent residence. Agree, the new album is phenomenal.

I need to check out the full album for sure. Caught the back half of a song on a local radio station and was dead certain it was a new Phoebe Bridgers song before I could go back and check the playlist on their site. Loved what I heard though.

Great album. But yes ... this is one of those records where you *have to* call out the similarity to PB, whether you're Searows' publicist, a reviewer, etc. Would be conspicuous not to.