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Jan 06, 2026 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Rita Iovine

Brooklyn indie outfit Endearments made their debut with their 2022 EP, Father of Wands, followed by their 2024 EP, It Can Be Like This. Both EPs hit on a cathartic and nakedly emotive blur of indie, ‘80s era post punk, and synth pop, piling driving energy and uplifting hooks atop bassist/vocalist Kevin Marksson’s aching lyrics. The band have since signed to Trash Casual, and today they’re back with news of their upcoming full-length album, An Always Open Door, out on March 6th. The record finds Marksson, guitarist Anjali Nair, and drummer Will Haywood Smith in a similarly expansive and emotive mode, evoking both open-hearted synth pop touchstones and plaintive indie fare like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

Marksson says of the record, “When I wrote the first two Endearments EPs, Father of Wands and It Can Be Like This, I was only recently outside of the events that inspired those songs: a failed marriage; a hopeful new relationship. When I sat down to write lyrics for our first full-length record, I had no intention of interrogating those memories and feelings again. Nevertheless, as the songs took shape, I felt myself looking back at the last six years with a renewed sense of curiosity.”

Late last year, the band shared their latest single, “Cannon,” and today they’re accompanying the album’s announcement with the record’s lead single, “Real Deal,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Real Deal” strikes at the core of what makes Endearments’ style so potent. Initially, Marksson’s vocals feel airy and weightless, sighing as the band’s glittering guitar tones churn away. Yet, Nair and Haywood give the track a propulsive kick, ratcheting up the energy on the chorus as the drums pound, the guitars gleam, and Marksson’s vocals take flight. The band feels impassioned and ascendant, turning their climactic lyrical refrain of “You’re not happy” into a defiant sentiment. By the track’s end, they let go of all of the attendant heartache in a galvanizing starburst of melodic glitter.

Marksson says of the track, “‘Real Deal’ is a song about feeling like you’re just a supporting player in someone else’s romantic idealization. I hint at Apollo and Daphne in the lyrics and the idea that someone can be so focused on what love ‘should’ feel like that they forget there is a real person on the other end. The music video plays with that concept in a fun way by having our heroine wake up in a strange apartment after what seemed like a perfect evening, but maybe wasn’t as perfect as she thought.”

Check out the song and video below. Endearment’s debut album, An Always Open Door, is out on March 6th via Trash Casual.