Swiss indie pop band Smooth Loft dive deep into vulnerability, longing, and emotional launch on their radiant six-track EP ‘Trendy Roses,’ an achingly lovely document full of heat, whimsy, and soul-stirring sincerity. Atwood Journal sits down with frontwoman Jorina Stamm for an intimate track-by-track unpacking of affection, life, and the little moments that linger.
Stream: “Depart the Gentle On” – Smooth Loft
“You depart the sunshine on… You retain the sunshine on with the water within the pot…”
The kettle hums and the candle burns with the load of what’s been left behind. It’s a whisper with the load of a shout – a second of humanity at its rawest and realest. Smooth Loft’s Trendy Roses lingers in these in-between moments – between holding on and letting go, between what we are saying and what we imply, between who we have been and who we’re turning into. It’s a document that holds house for the wonder and ache of human connection. It’s reminiscence; it’s reflection; it’s want. It’s the love, and the whole lot else, that lingers lengthy after the final goodbye.
Smooth Loft’s newest EP is a dreamscape of intimacy and emotion – mild but gutsy, layered in heat and vulnerability, with melodies that shimmer and lyrics that sting. Launched in late April by way of [PIAS] and self-produced by the band, Trendy Roses explores the emotional landscapes we navigate after we attain for closeness: The enjoyment of affection, the sorrow of distance, the strain of retaining and untethering. And but, these songs don’t simply mirror these sacred moments; they reside in them, respiration life into the grey areas of relationships and the silent areas between us. Without delay melancholic and radiant, this EP is a softly stirring triumph: A fearless expression of feeling in all its messy, magnificent varieties.
Smooth Loft are a Swiss indie pop band whose music hums with tenderness, stress, and a quiet sort of bravery. The five-piece – comprised of Jorina Stamm (vocals/guitar), Lukas Kuprecht (drums), Marius Meier (bass), Sarina Schmid (keyboards), and Simon Boss (guitar) – first made a reputation for themselves with 2023’s self-released debut LP The Get together and the Mess, a dreamy and diaristic full-length produced by Grammy-nominated Gianluca Buccellati. With no label or press marketing campaign, the EP discovered its technique to KEXP and the NACC charts, paving the best way for a breakout yr of worldwide competition appearances and sold-out membership reveals.
“We like it nonetheless, but it surely’s onerous,” frontwoman Jorina Stamm says of the band’s one-year-old debut. “We discuss it lots… We’re very glad to launch new music as a result of we wish to present all these things we’re doing now. Subsequent week we’re going into the studio once more, so it’s all coming collectively… But it surely’s nonetheless very particular to have that first album. We have now such nice reminiscences doing it with our producer, and it was the kickstart! It simply felt very particular to start the mission with that album – it began the mission, so we’re very glad about that.”
Now signed to [PIAS], the band return not simply with momentum, however with intention — Trendy Roses marks a turning level, cementing Smooth Loft’s voice as each emotionally resonant and artistically distinct.
This EP could sound seamless, however its coronary heart lies in spontaneity and give up. “We recorded it two years in the past already,” Stamm tells Atwood Journal. “Proper after we did our first album, we went straight into the studio once more and recorded these six songs, and it felt very liberating to take action.” With their debut already out on the earth, the band gave themselves permission to experiment. “We had music on the market, individuals knew what we’d been doing, and now we may simply sort of do stuff and check out stuff out. That was a really cool expertise for us. We did all of it by ourselves, and it was a lot enjoyable.”
“We didn’t actually have a imaginative and prescient,” Stamm provides. “It was simply capturing the whole lot that we’re experiencing now… making an attempt out stuff and simply enjoying music, actually.” There was no idea, no overarching narrative – simply snapshots of life and feeling, woven into track. “It was six tales out of my life, put collectively on an EP.”
That looseness grew to become a power. Songs like “Le Parfait” arrived unfiltered and unforced. “It was once a sketch, and we simply saved it,” Stamm recollects. “We tried to re-record it in a studio, however we couldn’t seize the second, so we saved it because the demo model. We didn’t actually care. We simply saved it that and we launched it. We have been simply freely doing stuff and saying, ‘Okay, that’s what it’s.’” That intuition – to belief the second – is what provides Trendy Roses its magnetic heat: It’s a doc of feeling first, polish second.
That spirit of intention and openness lives within the EP’s title itself. “It really comes from a line from the track ‘Paper Aircraft,’ which fits, ‘Trendy roses are paper planes,’” Stamm explains. “In ‘Paper Aircraft,’ the story is about serious about what may fashionable makes an attempt of displaying affection be like. What are the fashionable roses of right now? And serious about that theme we thought, what if our songs are fashionable roses as properly? What if these EP songs are fashionable roses, fashionable methods of displaying affection or simply sharing one thing about your self?”
Every of Trendy Roses’ six tracks looks like its personal small gesture – a hand prolonged, a coronary heart uncovered, a thought became melody.
It’s the fragility and tenderness of Jorina Stamm’s voice that hits first on EP opener (and former Atwood Editor’s Choose) “Depart the Gentle On”: Sizzling on the mic, she aches inside and outside as she elegantly dances between the brutal and the attractive, the highs and lows of a love that ought to’ve ended – however gained’t. “Depart the Gentle On” is a superbly dramatic reverie; a supply of consolation and catharsis, ardour and ache, channeled right into a soul-stirring seduction. The track swells in delicate waves – hypnotic and haunting – as Stamm sings of missed timing, lingering reminiscences, and the sunshine that by no means fairly goes out. “It’s that positive line between one thing good and one thing you by no means wish to return to,” she shares. “You retain on wishing for that individual to simply flip the sunshine off.” Without delay sleek and gutting, this opener builds a bridge from the band’s previous to its current – grounding Trendy Roses within the emotional warmth of lived expertise.
Against this, “Can” beams with delicate, summery gentle – a heat and wistful track about vulnerability and the need to attach. “It’s sort of me on this imaginary first date,” Stamm says. “I’m telling this individual the whole lot about myself. I’m making an attempt to create space for connection.” There’s a deep tenderness right here, as Stamm opens the door to closeness whereas acknowledging how onerous it may be to let others in.
The sweetly spirited “Paper Aircraft” takes that very same longing and twists it into a unusual, cinematic reminiscence. Set in Paris and sporting an invigorating drum beat, it turns a quiet second of awkward solitude right into a daydream of human connection. “I didn’t actually really feel good at this live performance, so I went behind the membership and checked out this flyer, and there have been directions to fold a paper airplane on it. I began folding the paper airplane, and this man came visiting and flirtatiously requested me what I used to be doing… I didn’t actually really feel good, so I shut it down, however after this second I actually began serious about the scenario – what if the paper airplane may have been a contemporary rose?” Stamm muses. “What different conditions do I do know of individuals displaying affection and connecting by means of stuff?” The monitor floats and flutters with classic textures and a dreamlike vibe, completely embodying its origin story.
The temper turns sharper on “Ohm,” a simmering breakup track brimming with frustration and guilt. “It’s very indignant and really giving feeling responsible and placing guilt on one another,” Stamm says. “Letting all of it out in a track after which feeling higher about it.” Like its title, “Ohm” hums with stress – a uncooked electrical present of unresolved emotion.
“Le Parfait” trades construction for softly stirring sensation. Extra mantra than track, it loops a single longing phrase – “you don’t wish to go” – till it turns into hypnotic. “It’s simply repeating this time and again,” Stamm explains. “It’s a temper about longing.” That looseness is intentional: a cheeky, aching ode to not wanting the night time to finish.
However you don’t
you don’t wanna go
no you don’t
you don’t wanna go
I believe I actually know
I believe I actually know…
The EP closes on “Pop Up,” a deceptively playful monitor that captures a deeper battle. Based mostly on an actual dialog about gender and feminism, Stamm steps into a number of views to mirror on the complexities of listening, talking, and being heard. “It’s very difficult, as a result of I do get each opinions,” she says. “It’s onerous to be a girl generally. And it’s onerous to be a person understanding that it’s onerous to be a girl generally.” The result’s as susceptible as it’s thought-provoking – an sudden finale that leaves the door open for extra questions, extra conversations, extra roses to bloom.
As for favorites, Stamm finds it onerous to decide on – and possibly that’s the purpose. These songs aren’t simply tracks; they’re moments, moods, and reminiscences.
“It modifications day by day,” she laughs. “‘Depart the Gentle On’ was so enjoyable to play reside… and now that ‘Paper Aircraft’ is out, I simply really feel like, okay, now we’ve got a dancey monitor, and that’s very enjoyable as properly. After which I take heed to ‘Le Parfait,’ and I’m like, oh, that’s so cool that we did that.” Proper now, she says, it’s “Paper Aircraft” – however ask her once more tomorrow, and the reply would possibly change.
Although Trendy Roses wasn’t born from a inflexible idea, Stamm’s lyrics carry weight – typically playful, typically poetic, all the time intentional. One in every of her favourite strains comes from “Paper Aircraft”: “Trendy roses are paper planes. Trendy speaking is texting, proper? My roommate rented a personal jet. What’s life?” It’s a line that lands someplace between confusion and allure, capturing the strangeness of recent reference to a wink. “It sort of captures my confusion about how we’re doing issues these days,” Stamm displays. “It’s not a really emotional or melancholic lyric – it’s a enjoyable one.”
As breathtakingly lovely as its title subtly suggests, Trendy Roses is a present – a heat, wistful, and wondrous EP that invitations listeners into Smooth Loft’s world of delicate truths and emotional launch.
These six songs don’t scream for consideration; they sit with you, ebb and circulation with you, and maintain you shut. There’s a quiet confidence in how this band strikes – one which doesn’t chase perfection, however as a substitute embraces feeling, circulation, and the unfiltered intimacy of creating music with individuals you belief. With its lush soundscapes, heartfelt lyrics, and soulful allure, Trendy Roses is greater than only a document; it’s a reminder of how highly effective it’s to share your coronary heart, and the way therapeutic it may be to listen to another person’s.
“I believe what I would really like for individuals to assume once they hear Smooth Loft… I actually like that we’ve got the idea of a band,” Stamm displays. “It’s not very standard these days anymore – 5 individuals doing music collectively and we’re deciding the whole lot collectively and writing the whole lot collectively and having lots of enjoyable collectively whereas touring and making music. I didn’t assume that it was a particular factor earlier than, however I’m listening to increasingly that it’s uncommon. I really like the concept of making this house the place it ought to all be very enjoyable and lots of understanding and being your self.”
As for what listeners would possibly take from Trendy Roses, Stamm retains it superbly easy: “A very powerful factor for me – or the factor I hope most for – is that persons are connecting with our music. I simply want for individuals to attach with it… and simply have enjoyable whereas listening to it. I actually love listening to music on a regular basis, so I hope persons are taking our music and strolling to the bus station or driving a automobile or no matter. Yeah, I want for that.”
She provides, “We weren’t making an attempt to please anybody with our music, however we’re glad to please if the receiver looks like, okay, I like what you’re doing now.”
Expertise the complete document by way of our under stream, and peek inside Smooth Loft’s Trendy Roses EP with Atwood Journal as Jorina Stamm goes track-by-track by means of the music and lyrics of her band’s newest launch. A very gorgeous 20-minute journey, it’s a heartfelt, handmade assortment that invitations us to sit down with our emotions, savor the softness, and discover magnificence within the in-between.
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Stream: ‘Trendy Roses’ EP – Smooth Loft
:: Inside Trendy Roses ::
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Depart The Gentle On
“Depart the Gentle On” is a type of breakup songs whenever you break up however one individual or possibly each, they’re nonetheless leaving the sunshine on a bit. You’re probably not letting go and also you’re probably not completed with the entire scenario and also you sort of depart slightly gentle on nonetheless on your feelings. And it’s sort of about that feeling and making an attempt to seize this second the place you’re not prepared to completely let go, however you must. And it’s all about that, leaving the sunshine on, leaving slightly water within the kettle to boil. And you retain wishing for the opposite individual to show the sunshine off, however you continue to see it and it’s all over the place.
Can
“Can” is a really private track for me as a result of I are inclined to shut down when persons are getting too shut. And “Can” is sort of making an attempt to inform the story about me being very open minded and really outgoing and really not like, me in a typical relationship. And it’s sort of taking me on this imaginary first state and I’m telling this individual the whole lot about myself and I’m making an attempt to create space for connection and yeah, the whole lot that I’m combating is, shouldn’t be there anymore. Yeah, it’s sort of that feeling about wishing to be extra open – to let individuals in.
Paper Aircraft
“Paper Aircraft” was really a track that we wrote very quick. We wrote it in a day, I believe. And it was completed immediately. And it sort of, the lyrics are about an expertise I had whereas being in Paris and I used to be at a live performance and at this membership known as Supersonic, which we really performed after writing the track as properly. And I didn’t actually really feel good on the live performance and I went behind the membership and checked out this flyer and there have been directions to fold a paper airplane on it. And I sort of began doing this folding the paper airplane. And there was a man coming over and flirtatiously asking me what are you doing and why are you folding the paper airplane? And I didn’t actually really feel good so I shut it down and was like, oh properly it tells you to fold the paper airplane. Why are you asking me this? Take a look at the flyer. However after this second I actually began serious about the scenario and I used to be serious about what if I used to be into the scenario. And what if the paper plan may have been a contemporary rose? And what different conditions do I do know of individuals displaying affection and connecting by means of stuff, I suppose. And all these bizarre tales got here to my roommate on his first date. He rented, not a personal jet, however a helicopter. And I used to be serious about all these things and placing it in a track and it’s known as “Paper Aircraft.”
Ohm
With the title, we have been really very lazy, I suppose, as a result of we had all these working titles and we didn’t get to the purpose to vary them. We have been too late. So, they’ve these bizarre names, and a few of them have these bizarre names that stayed. However “Ohm” is definitely additionally sort of like “Depart the Gentle On” – it’s a little bit of a breakup track, however this time spherical it’s very indignant and really giving feeling responsible and placing guilt on one another and being very indignant and feeling betrayed and, yeah. Letting all of it out in a track after which feeling higher about it.
Le Parfait
“Le Parfait” might be the track which is most simply sort of a temper and it’s not very a lot a typical track. It doesn’t have very… It’s not structured. It’s all the time the identical phrases saying you don’t wish to go. And it’s possibly a cheeky approach of claiming, I do know you don’t wish to wish to depart tonight. And it’s simply repeating this time and again and it’s a temper about longing.
Pop Up
We weren’t very positive if we’d put “Pop Up” on the document, really. I believe that’s why it’s the final track on it, as a result of we determined final on this one to place it on. We actually preferred the pre-production of it, however we weren’t very positive about it after we recorded it within the studio as a result of we didn’t fairly really feel like we received the vibe. However now listening to it, it’s very enjoyable once more. And the subject of the lyrics may be very… What do you say? It’s sort of about listening to a dialog with a girl and a person and their mates, however they’re speaking about feminism. And it’s very, very a lot about misunderstanding and about not feeling heard. And I’m like, because the narrator of the track, I’m taking all these totally different views of this dialog that I’ve heard. And it’s very difficult, as a result of I do get each opinions, and I do get that it’s onerous to be a girl generally. And it’s onerous to be a person understanding that it’s onerous to be a girl generally. The track is absolutely about that dialog and about how troublesome, I suppose, for each of the edges it’s to grasp.
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an EP by Smooth Loft
