Not every chapter of life comes with a clear ending, and not every difficult feeling needs to be resolved before we can make sense of it. Sometimes, all we can do is sit with the uncertainty and see what comes next. Portland, Maine’s Small Pond explore that very space on Soft Burn, their sophomore album, released October 21 and produced by Alex Farrar. Across the record, the four-piece indie rock band turns the uncomfortable realities of relationships, personal growth, and changing perspectives into something raw, restless, and deeply relatable.
Featuring Molly McDevitt on lead vocals and guitar, Ian Howard on guitar, Colin McKenna on drums and vocals, and Joe Murphy on bass, Small Pond have spent the past several years developing a sound that refuses to stay in one place. Originally formed along the New Hampshire seacoast before establishing themselves in Portland, the band built its foundation through three EPs, a live release, and a steady run of local performances. Their 2022 debut album, Let It Fall Like It Should, introduced a songwriting approach that balanced candid storytelling with the heavier textures of modern indie rock. With Soft Burn, that foundation becomes a starting point rather than a set of rules.
Recorded across two sessions at Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville, North Carolina, the album came together under the guidance of producer Alex Farrar, whose work includes records by Wednesday, MJ Lenderman, Snail Mail, Waxahatchee, and Indigo De Souza. Separated by several months, the recording sessions gave the band room to reconsider its direction and bring together material written at different stages of its development. Some songs originated during McDevitt’s earlier solo work, while others emerged in the period between studio visits.
That unconventional process ultimately became one of the album’s defining strengths. Rather than forcing every song into the same sonic framework, Small Pond allow their different musical instincts to collide. The result moves between contrasting moods and styles, from the more immediately accessible character of opener “Everything’s Quiet” to the expansive intensity of “Holy” and the loose, confident energy of “Warm Mud.” As the album progresses, its sequencing brings these different elements into a larger, more cohesive listening experience.
Farrar’s contribution helped the band find that balance without sanding away the qualities that make them distinct. Instead of encouraging Small Pond to reproduce the sounds of their influences, he helped them discover what happened when they trusted their own instincts. The album’s identity comes from the differences between its members as much as their common ground, capturing the unpredictability that happens when four individual perspectives meet in the same creative space.
At the emotional center of Soft Burn is a willingness to examine personal shortcomings without pretending there is always an easy way to fix them. Small Pond write about the moments when relationships become complicated, when our understanding of ourselves begins to shift, and when growing up means confronting parts of our behavior we’d rather avoid. Their music doesn’t attempt to provide a tidy resolution to these experiences. Instead, it offers listeners the reassurance that uncertainty is part of being human, even when it feels isolating.
Lead single “Silver Coin” captures that perspective through the uncomfortable realization that we don’t always show up for the people we care about in the ways we intend to. Looking at a relationship from the outside, the song confronts the distance between who someone wants to be and how they actually behave. Rather than shifting the blame or offering a convenient escape, it stays with that difficult recognition, allowing the emotional tension to speak for itself.
That honesty extends throughout the record. Soft Burn isn’t built around one defining narrative, but it carries a consistent sense of emotional exposure, finding meaning in the situations that remain unresolved. Its songs reflect the process of figuring things out while life continues moving, when answers are still taking shape and understanding arrives in fragments rather than all at once.
The album’s creation also reflects that philosophy. Between the long stretches of recording, unfinished ideas, and the roughly 400-mile distance between the band and the studio, Soft Burn grew out of a process that was anything but perfectly planned. Even the journey between sessions, made in a car affectionately named Vicki Jean Volvo, became part of the experience behind the record. What emerged was not a carefully engineered concept album, but a collection shaped by four musicians learning to trust the unpredictability of working together.
Small Pond will take the new material on the road this fall, with scheduled stops in Boston, New York City, Amherst, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Portland. After years of developing their sound through releases and live performances, the band enters this next chapter with a record that reflects the full range of its members’ creative voices.
With Soft Burn, Small Pond demonstrate that a band doesn’t need to have every piece figured out to make something meaningful. By allowing contrasting influences, imperfect feelings, and unfinished personal questions to coexist, they have created an album that finds its strength in the spaces where certainty falls away. It’s a record for anyone learning that progress isn’t always dramatic, clarity doesn’t always arrive on schedule, and sometimes the most honest thing we can do is admit we’re still working it all out.
All tour information and up to date news can be found at smallpond.band.
Small Pond On Tour
October 22 – Amherst, MA – The Drake
October 23 – New York, NY – Cassette
October 24 – Philadelphia, PA – Space 1026
October 25 – Washington, DC – Pie Shop
October 28 – Boston, MA – Deep Cuts
CONNECT WITH SMALL POND
Leave a Reply