After’s Individuality Shines Through Their Nostalgia on ‘Fell Asleep in the Sun’
What happens when two artistically driven millennials, living in a society yearning for the analog age, collaborate? You get After.
After, the band via Dreamweaver
Justine Doresy and Graham Epstein comprise the trip-hop duo best known for opening a wormhole to the 2000s with each new release. Doresy’s warm, mid-register vocals are reminiscent of Anna Nalick and Michelle Branch, and share an ever-so-slight similarity in inflection with Taylor Swift circa 2006. Epstein once again executive-produces the project, as he has with the rest of their discography. His production feels supernatural in a familiar, pleasantly haunting way rather than alienating and otherworldly, an ideal setup for Dorsey’s emotional, often wistful lyrics. The group’s visuals consist of the same pixelated slow-mo shots, pop-up animations, blinding overexposure, and intense color grading as the music videos that once frequented the Music Choice Alternative channel.
After premiered in 2023, dropping a handful of singles over the next year before releasing their first EP in April 2025, followed by After EP 2 only four months later. The duo’s ability to channel a hyper-nostalgic sound without feeling hollow or gimmicky earned them quick love from listeners and critics. Fell Asleep in the Sun is their longest wormhole yet, sitting at 41 minutes with 13 mystifying tracks and marking their debut album.
Lead singles included the project’s openers, “Take Me to Sunrise” and “Promise (When You Go),” which set the tone perfectly. One listen of “Take Me to Sunrise,” and it’s easy to understand its placement as the opening track. Dorsey’s delicate, mythically reverbed vocals draw listeners in steadily, making the first beat’s impact land effectively. It’s patient, cinematic, and commanding; there’s an intensity in the oscillation. “Promise (When You Go)” is easy to grasp and easy to love. The sound is twinkling, infectious, and straightforward; it’s layered in its own way, with synthy arpeggios intertwining with fast acoustic guitar chords, but nothing too challenging for the masses to comprehend.
Following the trajectory of track two, the sound stays in a slow and low pocket with “Metal” and “Breathe Your Air,” co-produced by Alex Craig (Love Spells, Roy Blair). “Metal” is a hard-hitting, melodic ballad where Epstein joins Dorsey in singing for the first time on the project. “Breathe Your Air,” an airy, slow-picking song, is dominated by Dorsey’s emotional disconnection from a previous idea of who a person was.
Then, the trip-pop of it all kicks into high gear for the next three-song run. “Fitfully” is full of cymbals, touchy piano keys, and rapid electronic glitches that flow seamlessly together, co-produced by Oscar Scheller (Pink Panthress, kelela, Natanya). Dorsey’s voice dances over the production, and her supportive background “ah-ah-ah”s further the enchantment. “Do or Die” and “Blow Out the Candle” keep that glimmery pop feeling going as Dorsey continues to detail her realizations of love, relationships, and the importance of embracing life’s nuances as time passes, because it’s going to pass anyways.
A 90-second interlude of angelic synth behind waves crashing to the shore in “Secret love song” makes way for the remaining no-skip fifteen minutes. But as we begin to settle into the beachfront serenity and distant, distorted vocals, a sudden psychedelic rip shatters the trance to kick off the next Oscar Scheller-anointed banger. “Open Water” leans further into the alternative-pop elements that are scattered throughout the project. Over a slow beat and electronic blips, Dorsey sings about leaving a relationship of turmoil and one-sided sacrifice, consciously bracing for the unforgiving sea of healing ahead of her. The cinema of “Snowburn” brings the sound back around from gritty to glittery—it’s something straight from a Twilight movie soundtrack.
The closing title track blends the album's overarching themes and sounds, bringing it full circle. Fell Asleep in the Sun touches on relationships, love and letting go, and reframing one’s outlook on life to decenter things that don’t serve a positive purpose. Dorsey sings, “The clouds are gone / To my surprise, I fell asleep in the sun.”
After’s status as the reincarnate of 2000s trip-hop has been supported by well-rounded, flat-out great releases that, while formulaic in style, aren’t monotonous. Anticipation for their debut album was laced with curiosity about how a full-length project would differ from their back-to-back EPs. Luckily, it holds its own. Fell Asleep in the Sun is a pleasant, charming debut that reinforces After’s core strengths while carefully exploring new offshoots of their niche sound.
See After on their headlining tour or catch them opening for The Neighbourhood on select dates this Fall.
