TOLEDO take us track-by-track by way of ‘Inertia,’ a sun-soaked and soul-stirring EP that captures the ache of rising up, rising aside, and discovering grace within the in-between. Rooted in “house grown nostalgia,” the Brooklyn duo’s six new songs glow with the quiet thrill of reconnection – proof that generally, going again is the surest method ahead.
Stream: “Zelda” – TOLEDO
TOLEDO have all the time made music that seems like a reminiscence – delicate and heat, worn-in and welcoming.
With Inertia, the Brooklyn-based duo sink deeper into their signature folk-inflected indie rock sound, delivering a sun-soaked and summery reverie constructed on friendship, fluidity, and feeling. The EP’s six songs discover TOLEDO doing their finest TOLEDO impression – wistful and buoyant, enchanting and smoldering – and in doing so, they’ve created their most interesting work but. A homegrown marvel in each sense, Inertia is the sound of a band leaning into their roots and discovering one thing new within the course of.
i confirmed you my enamel
in anger whenever you left
been barely per week
you’re shifting on to somebody higher
now all of my buddies
are calling me outdated good friend
and each new avenue
simply seems to be like a useless finish
nevertheless it helps me to assume
perhaps you’re listening now
– “Zelda,” TOLEDO
Independently launched Could ninth, 2025, Inertia arrives simply over a 12 months after TOLEDO’s experimental Popped Coronary heart EP and two years out from the duo’s beautiful, critically acclaimed debut album How It Ends. Whereas Popped Coronary heart embraced synths and drum machines and How It Ends reckoned with childhood trauma, the band’s newest EP feels free and unburdened – written totally on impulse throughout a cabin retreat upstate, and grounded within the straightforward, instinctive pleasure of constructing music collectively.
“This venture is imbued with the sense of ease that comes with returning to your roots,” TOLEDO – comprised of childhood buddies Dan Álvarez de Toledo and Jordan Dunn-Pilz – tells Atwood Journal. “It seems like coming house.”
“In typical TOLEDO trend, we rented a cabin upstate with the intention of getting some preexisting songs recorded,” the duo clarify. “We caught to our weapons and recorded ‘Zelda’ as deliberate. However inspiration struck, because it usually does, and the remainder of the songs have been written on impulse. After our expertise recording Popped Coronary heart, we have been itching to get again to our house base of guitar. Popped Coronary heart was all the time going to be the synth and drum machine EP, and How It Ends was all the time going to focus on childhood trauma. I swear this can be a constructive, however we actually didn’t have a lot of a imaginative and prescient going into this recording… It was releasing to focus solely on the music in entrance of us this time round.”
Regardless of its identify, Inertia feels something however stagnant. TOLEDO might have returned to the folky, guitar-based palette they began with, however this EP doesn’t learn as a step again – it’s a step inward and a step ahead abruptly. “Engaged on Inertia helped convey into focus the issues we love about TOLEDO, and the issues we see in our rapid future,” the duo replicate. “We wish to lean extra into an expansive sound, non-traditional instrumentation, bolder music buildings. The seeds we planted in Inertia will certainly develop into the subsequent album we write.” The stillness of the setting – a rented cabin upstate – might have implied relaxation, however what emerged is motion, momentum, and an unmistakable sense of artistic readability.
TOLEDO lovingly describe this document in three phrases: Dwelling Grown Nostalgia. It’s a becoming phrase for a group that wears its coronary heart on its sleeve – stuffed with intimate reflections, layered textures, and melodies that glisten like golden hour gentle. Inertia is dreamy, dusty songcraft at its most interesting, and a stupendous bridge to no matter comes subsequent.
lean right into a joke i’ve advised a thousand occasions
journey over my very own pleasure
botching the punchline
now we’re sitting in silence
curtains closing behind us
however you smile
and attain out throughout the aisle
i can’t assist myself
i perk up my ears to snort
when i really feel like a catch
be sincere now
cant you inform i’m doing by finest?
is there trigger & impact?
There’s loads to find on this six-track, 23-minute journey – from textural thrives and melodic turns to lyrical gut-punches that linger lengthy after the music fades.
Inertia could also be temporary, nevertheless it’s bursting with depth and dimension, inviting repeat listens and shut consideration. Highlights abound on the journey from the luxurious waves of opener “Trigger & Impact” to the spellbinding, cinematic splendor of nearer “Amends.”
“Trigger & Impact” units the tone with urgency and appeal – a love music born in a voice memo and completed in a flash. Its brisk pacing mirrors the fun of a brand new crush, whereas the lyrics (“Can’t you inform I’m doing my finest? / Is there trigger and impact?”) stroll the road between hope and hesitation. A repurposed COVID-era bridge provides a layer of TOLEDO’s trademark nostalgia, making it a quintessential entry level into the EP’s sun-kissed world.
“When He Comes Round” is without doubt one of the document’s standouts – an easy-to-love, harmony-soaked pop music with enamel. The band lean into their rock instincts right here, drawing sonic inspiration from Tom Petty and Steely Dan as they observe electrical guitars and drums reside to tape. The result’s soulful and emotionally charged, with a roaring instrumental break and a hovering, singalong-ready chorus. It’s infectious in all the precise methods, and one among TOLEDO’s most energized performances up to now.
Simply as affecting, although in a gentler method, is “Zelda,” whose intimate vocals and shimmering acoustic work supply a second of stillness. Anchored by a repeated chord development and no formal refrain, the music thrives on motion and colour – Mellotron strings, bongos, even bursts of brass and banjo – all layered with care. “Zelda” is a vivid standout, glistening with tenderness and restraint, and maybe the purest expression of Inertia’s “homegrown nostalgia.”
The bridge of “Zelda” simply so occurs to be the band’s favourite second on the whole EP. “We by no means would have ‘written’ these string melodies,” they share. “In a method we did, however we actually let the Mellotron information us. It’s so rewarding to scroll by way of presets till the right one reveals itself to you.”
nicely i couldn’t inform
the waking from the dream
thought i noticed you final
in plastic lined angel wings
i bury my face in black till it ends
the burden of your shadow
hovering over my mattress
nevertheless it helps me to assume
perhaps you’re listening now
“Tall Children” is one other gem, as a lot a sonic experiment as it’s a reflection on love, worry, and the will to carry on. Its gratitude-tinged lyrics and swirling manufacturing make it one of many EP’s extra formidable cuts, with the band leaning into large drums and daring tonal shifts. “Excellent Blue,” against this, is quiet and contemplative – a sparse and haunting piece that facilities on a sequenced piano line and smooth drum machine. It’s one among TOLEDO’s few songs that started with lyrics first, and the emotion lands with each hushed phrase.
i couldn’t sleep the night time you took
my hand and pulled me nearer
when i felt your arms round my neck
the solar got here up and adopted us
till the day was over
and that i walked house the tallest child
– “Tall Children,” TOLEDO
Closing observe “Amends” is as beautiful as it’s heavy: A slow-burning reckoning with fading friendships, hardened hearts, and the tip of innocence. Its ¾ rhythm belies the gravity of what’s unfolding – “Gone are the times the place we are saying what we imply,” they sing, and the ache is palpable. It’s a gut-wrenching finale that speaks to the EP’s emotional core: Issues change, individuals develop aside, and time retains shifting – however by way of music, TOLEDO make peace with all that’s been misplaced, and all that also stays.
however you’ll take every thing in your stride
and that i’ll all the time comply with suite
the loneliest night time
is the night time i’ll remind you
that it’s just a bit line within the sand we will’t cross
and there’s time in our fingers
nevertheless it’s all operating out
so we attempt to determine on the very best loss
i don’t perceive
you don’t wish to make amends
nicely what’s slightly lie
we will promote with our fingers crossed?
if we smile they’ll’t inform
that it’s all operating out
and it’s true that we do what we will
however i don’t perceive
you don’t wanna make amends
gone are the times the place we are saying what we imply
Whereas Inertia is crammed with sonic colour and wealthy, radiant textures, it’s the songs’ lyrics that lend the EP its placing emotional weight.
TOLEDO discover the ache of rising older and rising aside – of missed probabilities, unsaid phrases, and the bittersweet nature of change. There’s grief of their phrases, but in addition grace; longing, in addition to love. Time, reminiscence, and human connection kind the spine of the document’s storytelling, usually in refined but placing methods. “I used to be so afraid that they might come take it from me,” they sing on “Tall Children,” capturing the fragility of latest love and the worry of dropping one thing simply because it arrives. On “Zelda,” they replicate on lingering heartache with poetic precision: “I bury my face in black till it ends / the burden of your shadow hovering over my mattress.” These strains hit laborious not as a result of they’re loud, however as a result of they’re sincere – steeped in vulnerability, and delivered with out pretense.
It’s no shock that two of the band’s favourite strains encapsulate the EP’s emotional vary. From “Amends,” they pull the poignant, plainspoken fact: “Gone are the times the place we are saying what we imply.” And from “Trigger & Impact,” a lyric that captures hope within the face of uncertainty: “The curtains closing behind us / however you smile / and attain out throughout the aisle.” Every is a quiet gut-punch – a poetic reminder of the gap that types between individuals, and the tender, fleeting moments that convey us again collectively.
In the end, Inertia seems like an intimate reaffirmation of goal – each for TOLEDO’s members, and for his or her listeners; a second of reflection that factors towards the long run.
It’s an EP that embraces vulnerability, champions progress, and cherishes connection in all its types.
“We have now began enjoying these songs out, and there’s a particular second that occurs whereas enjoying ‘Zelda.’ The vitality of the room follows the dynamic of the refrain, and we will take a look at on the viewers and whisper, ‘Perhaps you’re listening… now,’” TOLEDO smile. “With each launch, we hope the venture (or music) falls on new ears and makes a connection.”
“In the end all we would like is for somebody to really feel much less alone on this rattling universe. If our music performs a small half in that for somebody, our mission is achieved. As we proceed writing and recording, it turns into increasingly more strengthened that we’re in the precise place, doing what we’re speculated to be doing. We’re nonetheless having a blast, we’re nonetheless bouncing concepts off one another, nonetheless discovering ourselves by way of the music.”
Expertise the complete document through our under stream, and peek inside TOLEDO’s soul-stirring Inertia EP with Atwood Journal as Dan Álvarez de Toledo and Jordan Dunn-Pilz take us track-by-track by way of the music and lyrics of their newest launch!
This document is proof that generally, Inertia is what strikes us most.
TOLEDO can be bringing Inertia – in addition to songs from “each TOLEDO period” – on the highway this summer season, fall, and winter as they embark on a newly introduced headline tour throughout the US – discover full dates, tickets, and extra data at thebandtoledo.com!
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Stream: ‘Inertia’ – TOLEDO
:: Inside Inertia ::
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Trigger & Impact
This music got here collectively the best way all of our favourite TOLEDO songs do – rapidly. I received a voicemail from Dan that contained the primary verse + refrain, and the remaining was easy. That’s the energy of latest love! Even the music’s lyrics strengthened a way of urgency. They beg the query: are you selecting up what i’m placing down?
We chopped up an outdated covid period music and repurposed it as a bridge. One other oft used TOLEDO trick.
When He Comes Round
My dad texted me to inform me it seemed like a Tommy Tutone music. We have been going for a Tom Petty factor. Or perhaps even Steely Dan. “Soiled Work” was high of thoughts. We spend a lot time in a reasonably or languid area sonically, so it feels good to rock out. That is our try at rocking out. We tracked electrical guitar and drums reside to tape. Tuned the acoustic down till the strings have been good and flappy.
Zelda
Zelda set the EP in movement for us. It was the primary music we tackled on our recording journey, and it offered a enjoyable problem to type. The chords repeat and repeat, and we didn’t have a refrain, so how might we hold issues fascinating? We leaned closely on our Mellotron 4000d, utilizing preset string and bongo samples to drive the music and supply sonic shifts. I shouldn’t prescribe labels, however that is my favourite latest TOLEDO observe.
Tall Children
Whereas many of the EP went by way of little revision and remained near the unique iterations, Tall Children took just a few tries to get proper. Lyrically, the music is an expression of gratitude, and there was a model that leaned into this wholesomeness and introduced like a straight up love music. Perhaps this was the precise transfer, nevertheless it’s not the place we settled! We used this music to push ourselves, capturing for a bigger drum sound and dealing to squeeze a whole lot of tonal shifts right into a moderately brief music.
Excellent Blue
To place it bluntly, the music is about comforting somebody the day after Tr*mp was elected. It was actually written that morning after. There aren’t a whole lot of phrases right here, and we wished to have a easy music on the EP. We centered round a sequenced piano line and a drum machine, and this instrumental sat on a tough drive untouched for a very long time. A uncommon event for us, we went in lyrics first and not using a melody in thoughts.
Amends
We referred to Amends as “¾ music” for much too lengthy. It clearly grew to become way more than it’s time signature. It’s in all probability the heaviest music on the EP, to the extent that it’d even be an outlier. We have been too excited by it to reserve it for one more venture. The primary lyric existed on a notes app for just a few months. I believe the burden of these phrases demanded consideration, and worry of an inner deep dive stored them at bay. We have now a whole lot of songs that cope with lack of innocence, however we’re formally outdated now. The innocence feels prefer it’s virtually gone generally! Friendships fade, individuals change, exteriors toughen.
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© Joe Pietropaolo
an EP by TOLEDO