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Mar 03, 2021 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Lisa Toboz

Pittsburgh-based singer/songwriter Emily Rodgers makes music of deliberate intimacy and isolation. While the instrumental palette may point towards folk and country, the quiet intensity of her songwriting and spacious compositions hints at other inspiration. For over a decade Rodgers has joined with legendary producer Kramer, most famous for his work with Galaxie 500 and Low, to bring her music to life.

On her upcoming record, I Will Be Gone, Rodgers combines her literary bent with Kramer’s textured production talents, resulting in a rich styling that expands the boundaries of folk and singer/songwriter music to introduce elements of post-rock, chamber pop, and shoegaze. Following the first single from the record, “I Will Be Gone,” Rodgers has returned with a new single, “Blame,” premiering via Under the Radar.

Written and recorded in one day in Rodgers’ attic with her husband and guitarist Erik Cirelli, “Blame” at once leans into both the startlingly intimate and the richly detailed parts of her music. A spacious syncopated percussive rhythm introduces the song before Cirelli’s guitar rings out, accompanying Rodgers’ insular vocal. Subtle piano and ethereal backing vocals from Kramer gradually fill the corners of the track, bringing newfound dark textures to the song as it reaches stirring heights. Yet the track is simultaneously isolated, centering the solitary lyrics (“I’m leaning in, it’s like you are gone,” “You don’t come around/And I/I don’t blame you”) even while Kramer, Rodgers, and Cirelli wrest an ornate beauty from the instrumental. Check out the track below and watch for I Will Be Gone, out April 16th on Kramer’s Shimmy-Disc Records.