Stream iji Bubble

Stream iji Bubble

iji has existed in various forms throughout the past decade, all centered around the unique pop sensibilities of Zach Burba, who now lives in Seattle. Last year, the group put out Whatever Will Happen, their first studio-recorded full-length and their first release through the New Paltz-based label Team Love. That album was inspired by time spent on the road, while its follow-up is inspired by dreams. Bubble grew out of dream journals that the band started and shared with one another on tour, and Burba used that experience as a jumping off point to craft an impressionistic, leisurely album that follows the sort of messy internal logic of dreams. Early single “The Pattern Grows Clearer” is built around a chant-worthy mantra of enlightenment; “Free Screening” makes our generation’s device overload sound borderline pleasant; “What’s Happening” twists the paranoia of delusions into a bleary ending: “Are you understanding?/ I try to listen in, at the expense of all the daydreaming.” But while, as Burba says on that last track, he “rarely know[s] what’s even happening,” he turns that confusion and disconnectedness into music that’s an absolute joy to listen to, which you can do below.

Bubble is out 7/29 via Team Love. Pre-order it here.

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