Long Beard - “Getting By”

SXSW 2020 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 2

Pairs Well With…Jay Som, Anna Burch, Sasami

Long Beard’s sophomore record Means to Me floats along in a dream-pop space, but there are indie and new-wave rock anchors that add a melancholy saunter to her songwriting. There’s even some alt-country roots on a track like highlight “Sweetheart”, a song adds layers of shimmering electric guitar and synths at times to allow dynamism to breathe within an otherwise melancholy tone. It’s a quiet and vulnerable record overall, comfortable and distant, but keeps from being boring by morphing just enough track by track. (Kevin McStravick)