Music Mailbag March 2025 

• Nathan Christianson
• The Plastic Cherries

As we press further into the year, the releases just keep coming. Here are some fresh tracks from excellent locals that you'll want to add to your library ASAP.

Shaking Paper EP, Velvet Haze: "Big things start in small spaces," goes the tagline for folk/rock duo Shaking Paper's debut EP, Velvet Haze. The EP includes four tracks of beautiful instrumentation and contemplative lyrics. They describe their music as "a celebration of love, connection, and the beauty of everyday moments," and that's captured wonderfully here. Their songs build and have wonderful layers of sound, paired with lovely vocals. Before you know it, you'll get to the EP and wish there was more. It's easy to listen again and again, however, and you'll probably find yourself going back to each lovingly crafted song just one last time. Velvet Haze is an incredible debut, and hopefully we'll get to hear more from Shaking Paper soon.
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Always Her, "Timeless": Alt/indie rock band Always Her made a splash in 2024 with their debut track "Silhouette (The Halloween Song)." Released last fall, it came just in time for the spooky season, which lovers of the holiday surely appreciated. They were able to play at the perfectly suited Buzzards & Bees Halloween Festival that year as well. A few singles and an EP later, Always Her is back in 2025 and has more in store for listeners. Their newest single "Timeless" is described by the band as "sure to spark feelings within you, whether that's feelings of resentment and anger to those who have wronged you, joy for those you love, and most importantly, feelings of healing and being able to move on to a better place." The song has charming lyrics, starting off with, "She's a timeless work of art / She's the main attraction / In the museum of my heart / An exhibit of pure perfection." Words like that are sure to make anyone feel special, and hopefully the person about whom they were writing knows that as well. As the song continues, you get a fun, energetic indie/rock tune that's easy to dance to. This is their first single of the year, and it's easy to get hyped about. It will be exciting to see what Always Her comes up with next.
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The Plastic Cherries, "Twister": It's hard to find the exact words to describe The Plastic Cherries and their sound—and that's not a bad thing. They don't fit securely in any one box, but one thing is for sure about the Cherries: They know how to have fun. Their 2024 album The Plastic Cherries on the Moon is full of a delightful mix of rock, glam, indie pop and psych elements. The group is heavily inspired by bands of yesteryear, so you get a lot of retro sounds mixed in with modern ones. Their upcoming single "Twister" continues to draw influence from the past. "'Twister' is our take on a '70s hard rock radio song. We subvert the form a bit, including a classical piano breakdown featuring our pianist Natalie Hamilton," said guitarist Joe Maddock. "We recorded it ourselves with the help of our bassist/engineer Stephen Cox. Mastering by Carl Saff. It is the first in a string of singles we plan to release over the course of 2025 that will culminate in our third album, Pure Danger, a genre-bending suite set to range in influence from AC/DC to LCD Soundsystem." With chugging bass, ripping guitar, ethereal vocals and punchy drums, it's easy to get lost in "Twister." It has the Cherries' signature fun and lighthearted sound paired with incredible musical skills. Don't miss "Twister" when it blows in on Friday, March 28.
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Richard Tyler Epperson, "Hold You in My Arms": Later this year, singer/songwriter Richard Tyler Epperson is set to release a new album, Fragmented Night. He's released a few songs so far from the album, the latest being "Hold You in My Arms." As always with Epperson, the track is full of sincere and intense emotionality. It starts slow and builds into a beautiful ballad detailing love, loss and the unrelenting desire to make things right. Epperson's ability to tell a story with his music is incredible, and it will be a treat to hear the story of the album as a whole once it releases. According to Epperson, this new album features some of the most personal tracks he's ever written. Loaded with emotional themes that display his signature array of colorful sound and his gift for creating moments that speak straight to the heart, the set of 10 songs on Fragmented Night highlights the most professional and polished music he's ever made. Right now, you can listen to "Hold You in My Arms" as well as a few other singles from the album, but you'll have to wait until May for the rest of it.
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That doesn't cover all of the great new releases for March, but it's an excellent place to start. Take a listen and let the music comfort you, because the world may be crazy, but at least there's always great local music to fall back on.