Endearments "An Always Open Door"
The music of Endearments has always turned a mirror on the inner self, reflecting life’s deeply personal, often painful moments in the light of clarity and new resolve. Principal songwriter Kevin Marksson and his bandmates, guitarist Anjali Nair and drummer Will Haywood Smith, craft emotionally dense and instrumentally lush pop songs, viewed through the lens of contemporary, dreamy indie rock and embedded with a John Hughes-ian romanticism.
Drawing on the emotive qualities of ‘80s synthpop and late-‘90s emo in equal measure, An Always Open Door, Endearments’ first full-length record, fine-tunes this heartfelt songcraft, widening the band’s influences and turning up the volume while maintaining the raw lyrical storytelling that’s made them a mainstay in Brooklyn’s highly competitive scene. Marksson’s blitzing, blistering inner monologue on “Marianne” and the melancholic explosiveness of “Real Deal” conjure comparisons to the likes of Camera Obscura and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart; at the same time, Nair’s stirring, wall-of-sound guitars on “Summersun” and Haywood Smith’s maximalist drums on “Saline” evoke the textures of shoegaze and the driving rhythm of big beat.