I had some listening time to myself last week and occasionally, i’ll find artists in my library that I remember liking enough to download their stuff but then for whatever reason (life, work, kid, take your pick, etc.,) I don’t get around to documenting their listens or how i found them and then life moves on and I completely forget about them.
cue….jeremy zucker … who once i started digging into last week, was like, OH MY GOD that’s right what’s why i thought this guy was worth it and downloaded everything….
He came up through the bedroom pop wave of the late 2010s – that whole SoundCloud-to-streaming pipeline where kids with laptops were making surprisingly polished indie pop in their dorms. His breakout was comethru (2018), which has that effortless, melancholic earworm quality that defined the era. But unlike a lot of his peers who stayed in that lo-fi lane, Zucker actually evolved.
His collaboration EP with Chelsea Cutler, brent (and its sequels brent ii and brent iii), is probably what most people know him for – tender, relationship-autopsy indie pop that feels like reading someone’s journal but with better production. Think stripped-back vocals, minimal beats, lyrics that are vulnerable without being overwrought.
His solo stuff leans more introspective and experimental. i think his CRUSHER (2021) is probably the best entry point and really showcases his range: electronic-tinged production, breathy vocals, this constant tension between optimism and sadness that never tips too far either way.
Current vibe: If Bon Iver and James Blake had a younger, slightly more accessible cousin who still believed in hooks, that’s Jeremy Zucker. Perfect for when you want to feel something but don’t want to commit to full sad boy hours.
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