Philadelphia-based “@” Intrigues with Lead Single ‘Autosmile’

The alt-folk duo releases lead single ‘Autosmile’ alongside an announcement of an upcoming album, with which it shares the same name.

The Philly-formed experimental folk duo @ (pronounced ‘at’) announces their second record, Automsile, to be released October 16th via 4AD. Since the release of a successful debut album in 2021, @ have been a sought-after supporting act - including tours with Black Country, New Road and Cameron Winter. In the meantime, they have shared lead single ‘Autosmile’ as a taste for their expanding sound.

The soft-lit, responsive single is, as all the best fairy-light folk music usually is, deceptively unpuritanical. The yellow, boneless strums ringlighting the entry are self-aware of their overt simplicity; the mousey piano that first punctures the silence fades into obscurity as the plucked strings dry and brighten. ‘There is a silent tapping on my window/And I keep waking up for me’, Victoria sings - followed repeatedly by the repeated admission, ‘I don’t know how I belong to you somehow’. Despite the constant stomach-dropping gear shifts, unreliable narration, and instruments downtoned to desolation feeling like reclamations of power, an opposite message resounds: ‘The wrenches in the road aren’t a reminder that change can come at any time; they’re a reminder that your vision is usually narrower than you thought.’ At times, its search for release and a broader view is slightly handsy - and yet, its hush and restraint make sensitivity seem more like a study for the romantic yet prideful of just how much one can dip into your emotional reserves without overindulging and going bankrupt the next morning.

In support of ‘Autosmile’, the duo will be on a run of tour dates from September 18th to November 24th, with stops around the UK from November 11th to November 19th.

‘Autosmile’ is available now to stream via 4AD.