A 2025 Indie Girl Spring is in Bloom
From the enormous reach of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to the meteoric rise of the Short n’ Sweet Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan’s chart-sweeping single, “Good Luck, Babe!,” 2024 was all about the pop girls. But as winter thaws and gives way to spring, so too do some of indie’s biggest female-led acts, gearing up for what could quite possibly be the indie girl spring to end them all.
Ethel Cain primed the scene with an early entry in Perverts, the singer’s second studio LP and a notable sonic departure from her debut, Preachers Daughter. Perverts is an experimental album, dominated by long, ambient instrumental tracks that cross melancholy with discomfort. The album's one and only single, “Punish,” is an over-six-minute song and its overarching narrative can be summarized by the final line: “I am punished by love.” Although this album may have lacked the wider reach and appeal of Preacher's Daughter, it was certainly appreciated by a certain indie subset, planting a seed of intrigue for what Cain might be up to next.
Japanese Breakfast, a powerhouse indie band that debuted in 2013, has blossomed yet again, touting their return to the stage with a brand new record, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women), slated to release on March 21. Although this album comes to us in the throes of spring, it is shaping up to be a darker entry to their musical catalog, with the singles “Orlando in Love” and “Mega Circuit” presenting a moody subversion from the bubblegum sound of older songs like “Be Sweet.”
Lucy Dacus has been a staple in the alternative scene as of late, especially given the more mainstream success of boygenius, a supergroup side project with fellow indie darlings Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker. But with all of the boygenius action — a debut album, sophomore EP and international tour — it’s been quite a while since we’ve been graced by a solo Dacus record (a little under four years to be exact). Forever is a Feeling, coming March 28, will change all of this. Satiating any indie fans’ appetite for songs that sound like dressed-up diary entries, Dacus has already released four singles from the album. “Ankles,” “Best Guess”and “Talk” are desire-ridden up tempo songs while “Limerence” is an ethereal ballad, giving fans a distinctly different look inside Dacus’s head.
Indie singer Samia has released a new body of work almost every year since 2020, and this year is no different, with her forthcoming album, Bloodless, coming out April 25. To prime fans for the new release, Samia has given them tastes of the new record with singles “Bovine Excision,” which starts with stripped down acoustic guitar but builds to an intense and compelling peak in the later half, and “Lizard,” a slightly more subdued and lyrically-focused song. Additionally, she’s teased some some grainy and almost eerie imagery for the album, a noticeable distinction from her brighter album covers that came before, giving credence to the theory that this may be the most interesting season for Samia yet.
Whether it’s Japanese Breakfast delivering dreamy atmospheres and interesting instrumentals, Cain confusing but intriguing listeners or Dacus divulging her diary, the artistic contributions of these indie girls will undoubtedly make the sun shine a bit brighter this spring.
