The very first release in our cassette series is Jay Som’s Turn Into and I feel it really has set the tone for the series as a whole. I only bring up this entirely different ~seemingly~ unrelated album to talk about its similarities with another one. In addition to being sonically cut from a similar cloth, the execution, overall sequencing, and the unique qualifier of having been entirely self-played and self-recorded intrinsically tie Inns’ debut album Animal to Turn Into for me. So I’m thrilled to announce that we’ll be including Inns’ debut Animal as the newest addition to our cassette series!

Animal is the debut album from Jim O’Donnell’s Boston-based solo recording project Inns. The band’s just played their very first show just yesterday and at the time of my writing this has a mere 23, uh, “likes” on Facebook. It basically makes no financial sense to be releasing this record (or any record, really lol) until you listen to it and realize how beautiful it is and how much other people need to hear it.

My favorite track on the album, “Party Talk”, I think best encapsulates what I love so much about this the record as a whole—there’s a somberness that grows and swells into a euphoric repeating synth line that makes me feel like what little kids feel like when they roll down a hill or spin in a circle too fast. It’s a great moment that masks the somberness of the track while never fully covering it up. And I think this entire record kind of flows like that—there’s plenty of catchy and upbeat hooks, and yet an underlying reflectively somber feel persists throughout.

FFO: Hovvdy, Horse Jumper of Love, Jay Som, Bellows, Lomelda, Legs Like Tree Trunks, The American Analog Set

Inns have a few shows coming up in the Boston area and pre-orders for Animal are available now as part of our ongoing cassette series.

As always, thank you thank you thank you for listening.