Wasting Archives - KUT & KUTX Studios

Whether it’s the inevitable return from a much-needed vacation, spying some inspiring light post-wrestling with depression, or just the routine changing of the guard between Sunday scaries and Monday blues, the addled and anxious of us can always appreciate an extra minute or two to block everything else out and just breathe, hopefully with a vital reset on the horizon.

But even if you’re cool as a cucumber all year round, we can’t recommend Breathing Space enough. Comprised of Maura Dooley and Emi Salinas, this Austin-via-Houston two-piece has been parsing out the finest elements of dreamy lo-fi for more than half a decade now. Breathing Space was a godsend when they first hit streaming just before the pandemic, and their modern, alternative meditations quickly became an essential part of our COVID routine thanks to a fairly routine single release schedule. And while the duo’s maintained that regimen, they’ve continued to push the boundaries of their sonics. Chiefly in terms of how upbeat can you turn it up with disco-funk elements until you kill the chill (think August’s “DREAMING’S EASY” and Fall 2022’s “GOT IT BAD”) and how mellow can you make things before it’s just plain bleak?

Especially with the latter, that line remains to be drawn in the sand. However, last Friday Breathing Space did blow us away with what may be their slickest production to date, “WASTING”. A relatively simple composition (characterized by a brief runtime, repeated lyrics, and barely more than a pair of chords to alternate between), this intersection of trip hop and alt-R&B expands a surprising amount on behalf of careful vocal layering, sultry saxophone, sneaky sampling, and beautiful bass work.

Lyrically? If you’ve been drooping on a throne of complacency and medication, these two queens may just put that reign on a platter and help you rejoice at the beheading of any bad habits or lingering shortcomings.

For as many people (especially bombastic media personalities) who’ve made a monkey of themselves in the COVID climate, we’d like to think that just as many, if not more, have done a lot of growing up instead. In the past three years we’ve seen a ton of such success stories, and today we’re commending the hurdle-topping turnaround of Josh Blair.

Even before the start of the pandemic, this New Hampshire singer-guitarist had already lost a friend to substance abuse and endured strains in his romantic relationship. When Blair began traveling the nation in a short bus at the height of lockdown conditions, he had plenty of time to reflect on his musical path leading up to this period of dejection; he’d been a punk drummer as a juvenile before graduating into bassist and guitarist for a hip-hop/psych/rockabilly outfit. But in this newfound, fragile mindset, Blair didn’t quite resonate with the overtly downtrodden discourse of many punk lyrics nor the slapdash style-over-substance approach of his subsequent cross-genre project. Instead Josh Blair turned to the matured wisdom of blue buckaroos like Townes Van Zandt and Hank Williams, and in doing so laid the groundwork for Modern Fools.

Rather than split the difference by going straight to cowpunk or psychobilly, Modern Fools embraces the timelessness of classic crybaby country as Blair’s first foray into bandleading and songwriting. Blair recruited longtime buds Justin Gregory and Jon Braught to record Modern Fools’ 2020 debut Seer – albeit completely separate due to COVID restrictions – and tomorrow, with the addition of Ian Galipeau, Modern Fools unfurls their formalization as a four-piece.

The quartet tracked their magnificent sophomore album Strange Offering together in Blair’s home studio, and that sense of unity really ratchets up the caliber of these forlorn originals. These ten gloomy cosmic country tunes arrive bright and early tomorrow, so be sure to set some time aside this weekend to appreciate Strange Offering in full. And if you want to open up the contemporary-tinged, vintage-inspired waterworks early, “Wasting” is where you wanna be. Like admiring the slow slip of sunlight into a distant horizon, “Wasting”‘s languid trot, softly-howled harmonies, stoic lyrics, sanguine song structure, and abrupt heartbreak of a final chord – all at just over five minutes – is by no means a misuse of your time.