Although we’re bound to find a silver lining eventually, when we take the time to really look at the world we live in – gross injustices, grievous atrocities, shared struggles and all – it can make staying inside super appealing. And for sonic creators, as long as the bleakness doesn’t make the music meek, the weight of societal commentary can say a lot about an artist’s maturation.

So let’s talk Austin Indoor Creature, who you may remember as our June 2021 Artist of the Month. Initially born from a stripped-down duo between singer-songwriter Caleb Fleischer and drummer-guitarist Travis Kitchen in the mid-2010s, Indoor Creature’s since evolved into one beast of a six-piece that breathes new life into their retro collection of influences. For any project who made it to this side of the pandemic, the outlook’s gotta be more optimistic. But as we mentioned before, harsh realities don’t just get hushed when the juices start flowing.

Marking their second standalone installation since 2021 full-length Living in Darkness, last Friday Indoor Creature embraced iniquity once again on “Cross The Line”. With a robust pop backbone and Fleischer’s vocals that evoke Thomas Mars, “Cross The Line” reminds us of the tragedy-spurred background behind Phoenix’s Ti Amo. But instead of gating the heck out their instrumentation and keeping the BPM far north of 90 (both straight out of Phoenix’s radio-friendly playbook), “Cross The Line” relishes in a spacious, stereo-spanning mix and a truly introspective tempo. And for an act that call themselves “Indoor Creature”, they’re sounding awfully human on “Cross The Line”, thanks to its jazzy dynamic range, soulful chord progressions, extended jammy outro, and of course, the socially-conscious lyrics.

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