It’s fitting that Philadelphia guitarist Victoria Rose and Baltimore producer/musician Stone Filipczak named their band @ (pronounced “At”) — a symbol that calls to mind the detachment of an email exchange or a Twitter mention. The folk-pop duo created their debut album Mind Palace Music almost entirely remotely from, sending each other recordings over iMessage from their respective cities throughout fall/winter 2020. But although its creators were 100 miles away, the 11-track album gleams with a sense of closeness, tied together with @’s penchant for deeply personal and candid lyrics. Originally released in April 2021, the album is getting a reissue from Carpark on February 17, 2023… Carpark Records
On their debut album, Mind Palace Music, @ present a winsome hybrid of melodic acoustic songwriting, ambitious arrangements, and the type of smart, lo-fi chamber pop that harkens back to the Elephant 6 Collective’s more ornate side.
Add to that echoes of U.K. folk, ’60s psych, and even ’70s prog rock, though these descriptions make them sound overly complex and rooted in the past, which they are not. In fact, @’s songs are surprisingly approachable with direct yet nimble melodies and enough free space to support the unique quirks scattered throughout the set… AllMusic
1. Parapet (01:30)
2. Star Game (02:02)
3. Letters (02:26)
4. Friendship is Frequency (02:09)
5. Boxwood Lane (02:51)
6. Where’d You Put Me (01:12)
7. Major Blue Empty (03:48)
8. First Journal (01:24)
9. Cut From Toxic Cloth (03:12)
10. Camera Phone (04:22)
11. My Garden (04:01)
Music and lyrics by Stone Filipczak and Victoria Rose
Mastered by Bryan Ewald
Piano on “Parapet” by Will Hicks
Piano on “Camera Phone” by Dane Filipczak
Art by Sam Klickner