Los Angeles duo After, comprised of Justine Dorsey and Graham Epstein, releases their debut album Fell Asleep in the Sun today via Mom + Pop Music.
Across 13 songs, the record turns the half-remembered sounds and images of the early 2000s into something that feels both strangely familiar and entirely their own: mall soundtracks, endless internet archives, grungy guitars, trip-hop, drum & bass and shoegaze all refracted through sharply written pop songs.
There is nostalgia running through Fell Asleep in the Sun ; after all, The Cut recently called After “The Ultimate Y2K Nostalgists.” But they are less interested in recreating the past than in the strange way memory distorts it. The album circles impermanence, getting older and trying to hold onto people and moments even as they begin to disappear. Previously released singles, “Take Me to Sunrise,” “Promise,” “Fell Asleep in the Sun,” and “Blind,” introduced pieces of that world; heard together, the album makes the full picture visible.
Formed in 2023 after meeting on the dating app Hinge, After quickly discovered that their relationship wasn’t meant to be romantic and instead transformed into a musical partnership. Since then, the ...