Will Wiesenfeld, known professionally as Baths, has cultivated a significant presence in the music world over the past fifteen years. His journey, marked by numerous albums, collaborations, and remix projects across various independent labels, showcases a deeply personal approach to music creation. Operating primarily from his home studio, Baths maintains an ethos of intimacy and authenticity in his work. His fourth album, Gut, represents a shift towards raw emotional expression, prioritizing instinct over meticulous introspection. Wiesenfeld describes his process as “sketching my strongest and most pervasive feelings out quickly and treating their roughness as gospel.” This method results in music that spans a spectrum of intense emotions, drawing inspiration from post-punk and noise music, genres known for their direct and powerful impact. Baths’ style, in essence, is a reflection of unfiltered emotion, presented with a raw and honest aesthetic.
Pascal Stevenson, the artist behind Fashion Club, brings a different yet equally compelling style to the music scene. Originating from Los Angeles and conceived during tours with her band Moaning, Fashion Club is characterized by a luminous and expansive sound. Her second album, A Love You Cannot Shake, envelops listeners in a vibrant sonic landscape, blending aberrant synth lines, artful strings, and disfigured guitars into grand, uplifting crescendos. This creates an experience that is both invigorating and revealing, like being exposed to a powerful, yet probing light. Fashion Club’s music explores themes of vulnerability and self-discovery within a framework of radiant and otherworldly sounds. Her style can be described as both ethereal and grounded, a captivating blend of contrasting elements.
