In the game for over 10 years, it’s safe to say that San Bernardino, California’s Foliage (aka Manuel Joseph Walker) has been around the block a few times.
2025 has gotten off to an incredible start for him, having released a series of beautiful tracks and recently making his festival debut at the legendary SXSW in Austin, Texas.
The lead track here – You Never Know – is a twee indie-pop song. It’s cute, charming and cheerful sounding but with an oxymoronic sorrowful undertone – a technique borrowed from his musical heroes The Smiths (see Girlfriend In A Coma for the best example of this).
The combination of electronic percussion, lo-fi production and acoustic tones reminds us of Ben Gibbard’s early ¡All-Time Quarterback! recordings. These are blended with the glittering pop sensibilities of dream pop acts like Start Track’s own Swiss Portrait (incidentally, Foliage has released prior work on cassette under Start Track’s former guise of Z Tapes).
The second track, Sophia, is tonally quite different from the first in that it feels more like winter twilight, as opposed to You Never Know’s summer’s day. It’s a hazy, synthy fever dream of a song that lasts only 76 seconds. That’s more than enough time for Walker to work his magic and to disconcert and illicit feelings of concern and almost a sense of claustrophobia. It’s basically audio witchcraft.
Written by Kinda Grizzly
