Just Penelope — the Bloomington, Indiana quartet of Ella Curiel (guitar/vocals), Ethan Cantrell (percussion/synth/vocals), Theo Erz (guitar), and Drew Goforth (bass) — have announced their debut EP, ‘Great Lake’ (out September 18th via Angel Tapes / Fire Talk), and present its lead single/video, After.
Past the east side of Bloomington, the hum of Indiana’s largest college town dies down, tulip trees multiply, and a deaf dog perches next to Just Penelope’s drum kit. It’s here — a cabin-esque home-studio cherished for its unassumingly high-fidelity capabilities — that Just Penelope recorded their debut EP. Just Penelope crafts dynamic and well-studied indie rock that sets adolescent experiences against walls of sound, and ‘Great Lake’ is filled with ferocious signs of life, the embers of youth that burn fast and bright for those lucky enough to bear witness. ‘Great Lake’ closer After combines layers of dense instrumentation with assured melodies.
“Swimming through the plant stained water // I wanna tell my daughter // I wanna make it all okay,” Curiel sings atop sparkling synthesizer and sludgy guitars.
After is presented alongside a music video helmed by Keegan Priest and Isaac Sanchez. Combining projection art with CCTV camera footage and digital flourishes, the After music video is a striking accompaniment to Just Penelope’s affecting single. In addition, Just Penelope unveil a headline tour with stops in New York, Chicago, Nashville and more. Full tour dates are below, and all tickets are on sale now.
The Making of ‘Great Lake’
Just Penelope recorded ‘Great Lake’ across three days on the outskirts of Bloomington, Indiana. The change in scenery let the young quartet set aside assignments, exams, and part-time jobs to zero in on their debut EP.
“It’s one of those places that feels like it should be further away than you actually are,” Curiel says of the transportive space.
With longtime friend Keegan Priest sitting in to assist on engineering duties, the quartet settled into long but comfortable days.
“Whenever we were tired, we were able to just walk out and breathe real, fresh air,” Cantrell recalls of the DIY sessions. “There’s 2 beds, a couch, and a spare room.”
It’s the latter — the studio’s attic — which graces the EP’s cover artwork, a night-time polaroid that gestures toward the atemporal familiarity that pulses throughout ‘Great Lake”s four tracks.
The self-produced ‘Great Lake’ EP spans cathartic indie and grunge, forming an assured opening statement that could only emerge from the midwest. Themes of vulnerability reoccur, but Just Penelope regularly resist the urge to catastrophize a situation, pushing back on the idea that any one setback should be taken too seriously. Just Penelope’s lyrics often operate in abstract vignettes, allowing the emotional instrumentation to lead their charge.
“The lyrics and melodies are always one in one with the guitar,” Curiel says of ‘Great Lake”s affective compositions.
Just Penelope’s commitment to dense instrumentation and crystalline production stems from the group’s shared roots at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. They cite bands like Modest Mouse, Interpol, and Deerhunter among their guiding influences, always returning to the texture of each band’s recordings.
“It’s hugely important to us,” Curiel insists, “not just how good a part is, but how we can use a microphone to record it and get a cool sound out of the instrument. How can we blend everything in a beautiful way?“
Their technical curiosity results in production that allows the emotional weight of each moment to thrive.
Just Penelope bridge adolescent emotions with a finely-honed palette that soars above and beyond Lake Superior. While they’re still a young band, ‘Great Lake’ captures the ineffable electricity of tapping something new and exciting. It is the sound of Just Penelope finding their voice in real time.
“This band has helped me learn how to be loud in a controlled and emotional way,” Cantrell says. “We really found a way to lock in with one another.”
‘Great Lake’ track list
- Sister
- Copenhagen
- Great Lake
- After
Pre-order ‘Great Lake’ here
Just Penelope Online: Instagram | Tiktok
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