smush announce new album ‘i’ll always wish,,’ + drop drum-and-bass tinged single ‘milkweed butterfly’

Brooklyn shoegaze rising stars smush just announced their new album, ‘i’ll always wish,,’, landing January 22nd, 2027. To kick things off, the band dropped the urgent, chaotic lead single milkweed butterfly via FLOOD Magazine, with a video directed by Henry Nelson.

The band is Emily Borrowman (bass/vocals) and Atley King (guitars), now joined by an expanded lineup of Rudi Neubrander (drums) and Wilson Woods (keys). On milkweed butterfly, their sound takes a bold leap, blending pop melodies, drum-and-bass inspired programming, and dreamy, beguiling shoegaze guitars.

The Story Behind milkweed butterfly

This one runs deep. Atley explains:

“Written from the perspective of a child experiencing anxiety and depression with no way to understand or contextualize those feelings, creating ‘milkweed butterfly’ was a way for Emily to make sense of the instability of immigrating to the United States. Beginning as a stripped down demo with midi drums, it was honed through multiple lineups of band members and finally perfected in the studio by Jackson Baker (witches exist). Heavily influenced by drum-and-bass music, it features a unique approach to blending jungle breakbeats, glitchy effected vocals and guitars with noise rock and shoegaze textures. After nearly a whole day in the studio spent meticulously programming drum breaks and sound effects, it finally arrived in its final form. Much like the butterflies mentioned in the song’s lyrics, its own transformation was complete.”

On the Road

smush are in the middle of an extensive U.S. tour supporting She’s Green, and they’ll hit the West Coast and Midwest with their own headlining shows in November. The full itinerary is below, and tickets are on sale HERE.

From Vancouver to Brooklyn

Formed in 2024 by the Vancouver couple, smush has quickly become one of the most promising new acts in North America’s thriving DIY shoegaze scene. After relocating to Brooklyn, Emily and Atley hinted at new directions with their covers EP ‘standards’, six transcendent shoegaze reworkings of Norah Jones, Owl City, Field Medic, and more. The self-released EP earned love from Alternative Press, FLOOD Magazine, Consequence, Sirius XMU’s Download 15, Spotify’s Shoegaze Now playlist, and Earmilk, among others.

With the glitched-out electronic touches of ‘standards’ paving the way, ‘i’ll always wish,,’ shows smush as a fully realized creative force. “This album is an invitation to our fans to expand their scope of what they imagine this project being,” Atley says.

Stripped Down, Then Built Up

Making ‘standards’ pushed Emily and Atley to study the songwriters they admire, which helped them level up their own craft for the new record. Following advice from their friend Richard Orofino of Sex Week, the duo wrote full songs on guitar only and kept early production as limited as possible, tracking demos in Garageband or to tape.