Two of the best indie acts in 2025 are releasing new albums on the same day. The world may be a hot pile of garbage right now, but there is still some joy to be had via music.
Alicia Jeanine and Jed Smith, aka Jeanines, are back with How Long Can It Last, their third long-player. The tunes are modestly more robust than in the past, with numbers like "Coaxed a Storm" standing out as indications of new directions to pursue. Still, the familiar charms of this duo are still evident all over How Long Can It Last. Tracks such as "What's Lost" and "You'll Figure It Out" blending a lyrical Softies-ish sweetness with the kind of deliberation we heard so long ago from Young Marble Giants.
Jed and Alicia keep things simple here, and the Jeanines recipe is still the same as on previous releases. There is a bit more fire in some of these cuts, and there's a nice undercurrent in some of this material that suggests a kind of insistence that keeps this material more direct than it is simple. There's loveliness here thanks to Alicia's voice, but the melodies all have a kind of quiet heft that makes this record likely the best one to date from Jeanines.
New Jersey band Lightheaded are back with their third long-player and the charms of this chamber pop-leaning outfit are still here. Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming is elegant pop, and it's worth noting that it was recorded by Gary Olson (The Ladybug Transistor) and Alicia Vanden Heuvel (The Aislers Set) and it's fair to say that fans of those acts will likely love this record.
Lead single "The View from Your Room" starts in a precise fashion and then opens up spectacularly, the tune having a sort of early Stereolab-vibe to it, while "Mercury Girl" is even better. That one has a neat guitar hook and the layers of sounds around it create a spacious sound that's more than jangle-pop. Elsewhere, the absolutely gorgeous "Love is Overrated" closes this record in a manner that seems to echo both Phil Spector and the Silver Apples. That track is so good, that I venture to say it may be my favorite Lightheaded number to date.
How Long Can It Last by Jeanines and Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming by Lightheaded are both out on via Slumberland Records and Skep Wax.
Both bands are on tour in the U.K. in July.
[Photos: Force Field PR]