Squish by Gretel

I originally included this in the Honorable Mentions section of the April 3 + 10 post, but I’ve spent a bit more time with it since that post went live and I’ve come to the conclusion this belongs on the Featured Albums list.

Gretel (aka Gretel Hänlyn, real name Madeleine Haenlein) is a singer-songwriter from London. Her influences mainly revolve around the artists I listed above, but you can also hear others like Sonic Youth, Radiohead, and The Beatles. As a whole it’s dynamic indie rock with a darker bent (“goth” is an easy way out), which means self reflective lyrics and soft/loud dynamics, along with great melodies and riffs that you’d expect from indie rock music.

Squish is Gretel’s debut full length album after releasing two EPs (2022 and 2023)…

Overall, it’s a solid debut release from top to bottom, with four of my favorite tracks in the first half of the album:

• “Fire blooming trees”
• “Unbloom”
• “Squish”
• “Darkness, be my friend”