“Blue Cove is an up-and-coming Chicago indie rock band. They are set to release their debut album in August 2023. Founding members, Steph Nikolas and Eric Breden, were high school best friends and neighbors before connecting as a musical partnership in their 20s. Blue Cove’s music is ethereal and vibrant, yet manages to maintain a strong songwriting and lyrical focus. Nikolas is the singer/songwriter, and Breden is a multi-instrumentalist responsible for the production and much of the instrumentation heard throughout their music. The duo’s debut album, Thrive, is also set to be released later this year and involves themes that Nikolas has described as “motivational.” The album centers around overcoming mental health struggles and trauma in order to live a fulfilling life. Nikolas and Breden are also both visual artists and approach the project with a shared multimedia vision. They collaborated to design the album’s artwork. Combining this approach with a DIY mentality, Blue Cove designs their own merch, captures many of their own press photos, and even films their own music videos.“
This is a bio written on Spotify, it is of older date, but still relevant.
I shared a single Thrive from this album a long time ago and here is finally the full album. The album is a nice energetic slowcore / dreamy shoegaze pop, I am not sure if the combination makes sense, but I am quite feeling it that way. The lush melodies, strong vocals, and catchy guitars will get you captivated and you will be drawn to listen to the whole album. I recommend checking more songs from the album because they differ and some of them have more laid-back acoustic slowcore vibes, and some of them have more dreamgaze vibes.
The whole album has a colorful palette of sounds and deserves more careful listening and I bet you will find your favorites. The album has just 7 tracks and less than 30 minutes of playing time, so if you go for a quick run (like I do), you will be able to fully devour it. Just try it.
I talked to band and ask them our 3 questions:
What inspired you to start making music and what keeps you making music?
I make music because I love the process so much. It feels so fulfilling to work so hard on something and then finally put it out. This song specifically is inspired by the experience of growing up, gaining wisdom, and seeing your life through a different perspective.
What was the most challenging thing in your music (artistic) path?
The most challenging aspect is working through imposter syndrome and my own perfectionism. It’s easy to be hypercritical of your work to the point where it feels like a better idea to just give up and not put anything out into the world. I think it’s important to push through that feeling, even though it feels impossible sometimes.
What would you dream to do if anything was possible?
My dream is for our music to reach the right people— and hopefully move them and make them feel good.
You can follow the band on: