talker has been running for a really long time. To what exactly? She can’t totally answer that herself. After releasing her debut album I’m Telling You the Truth in 2024, talker (the alias of Los Angeles-based Celeste Tauchar) has been grappling with the reality of what telling the truth really means. While that record saw her having a lot of hard conversations and acknowledging hard truths for the first time in her songwriting, Tauchar’s new music feels like looking in a mirror, with the artist stepping into the greater unknown and making the choices that come with radical honesty. Once you speak certain things out loud, you have to take accountability for your own role in relationships, and in your own life. And sometimes, it’s easier to run than to make those choices.

These songs feel like standing out in the desert, wind whipping around you, sand blowing into your mouth and eyes, fully exposed to the elements and being totally vulnerable to being seen, but moving forward anyway. The songwriting and production is raw and desolate, building up to intense moments of grit and emotion that match the sheer vastness of the west. Gold Rush, the lead single from talker’s forthcoming second LP, kicks off this new sonic palette, with an eerie vocal loop and guitar riff starting the song that feel straight out of a ghost town. The song is about feeling completely tapped out and run dry, but still standing firmly on the ground waiting for your time to come - even if everyone else has left you in the dust.

Ironically, the song feels like a fresh start for talker, focusing on natural collaboration with her band. Written & produced with guitarist Matt Bernstein right after their tour supporting Wheatus, with JR Kurtz on drums, Gold Rush is the product of close friends just getting in the room and playing music without an end goal.

Mixed by Sarah Tudzin of illuminati hotties and mastered by Brian Lucey, talker’s upcoming body of work focuses on creating a world rather than dropping bite-sized singles, and listeners will step into her universe when they press play. Lauded for past releases by Pitchfork, NPR Music, Stereogum, Billboard, and more, talker is now walking out into the sun, barefoot in the sand, ready to be seen in her truest form: an artist with nothing to hide behind. Just raw emotion, grit, and years of experience touring and releasing music, putting one foot after another.

OK Cool. are two tiny tiny rats with a dream of one day becoming human (Chicago, Illinois)

Snowcuffs is a Chicago dreampop band that weaves dueling guitars, hypnotic synths, and entrancing vocals into lush, multi-layered soundscapes. Influenced by Alvvays, Beach House, and Mazzy Star, their music drifts between nostalgic haze and fuzz-driven intensity, carried by themes of longing, reflection, and fleeting beauty.

Formed in late 2022 by members of Lightfoils and Astrobrite, Snowcuffs made their mark with their debut EP Sink Down (2025), which drew praise for its balance of shimmering textures and memorable hooks. They’ve shared the stage with contemporaries such as Cold Gawd, Seashine, and Cigarettes for Breakfast, and delivered a standout performance at Kalamashoegazer, the country’s longest-running shoegaze festival.

With momentum building, Snowcuffs is carving out a space of their own—equal parts hazy and gripping, delicate and powerful. Their second EP, Sweet Gravity, released in early 2026, showcases refined songwriting and a more expansive sound that pushes the boundaries of dreampop without losing its heart.