Content Warning: This album contains some explicit language.

Most Popular:

• “Whales”
• “Sad Disco”
• “Space Cowboy“

Personal Favorites:

• “Playground”
• “Sad Disco“
• “Halfway”
• “Goddamn”
• “Burn”
• “Weepy Woman”

About the Album

Have you ever thought about what the snow melting into spring sounds like?  To me, “Shadowglow” by Flipturn is exactly what that would sound like.  

Flipturn is a five-piece indie band from Florida that formed in 2015.  The group originally started out with just three high school seniors.  The group quite literally started out in a garage and now is touring all over.  I have even seen them live at the Ritz and caught one of their drumsticks.  

The words I would use to describe Flipturn’s sound would be ones like deceptively melancholic, chill, dark cloud with some sun rays peaking through.  I love Flipturn’s work and have been an admirer of theirs for a couple years.  I might have a skewed perception of them because I find their bass player, Madeline Jarman, to be a personal role model of mine.  I have a whole rant about that in another article I wrote called “Women in Bands.”

“Shadowglow”, a well named album I’d say, was released in 2022.  There are 14 songs on the album all with a common melancholic, kinda sad but almost not kind of feel to them. Kinda like feeling the sun on your face on a chilly spring day.  

Some of the songs on this album, such as “Hollow” and “Space Cowboy” use a telephone vocal distortion effect in certain places.  To me, this adds so much to the song even though it is such a tiny detail.  

Many of the songs on this album follow a similar pattern of the smallest little details adding so much to the song.  “Brooklyn Baby,” “Halfway,” “In Consideration” and “Take Care” all implement some piano chords to the song.  Simple, yet elegant.  

Almost all of the songs follow a pattern of a slow opening, a gradual buildup through the song, leading to the bridge or outro where the buildup leads, not to an explosion, but a leveling off.  The best way I can describe it is not like climbing a steep hill and getting to the top and feeling like the top of the world, but more like slowly riding your bike up a long and gradual hill and making it to the top to be able to coast slowly downhill and enjoy the slight breeze in your hair.  

There are two instances in this album of songs transitioning smoothly into each other.  These would be from “Burn” to “Weepy Woman” and from “Space Cowboy” to “Orbit.”  The latter is very subtle and I didn’t notice it right away.  These two songs are both very chill and melancholic.  The former, on the other hand, was very artistfully done.  “Burn” is a slow and melancholic song that transitioned seamlessly to “Weepy Woman” where the energy was building up even before the songs switched.  “Weepy Woman” felt more whimsical and had more edge.  The song had a chilling buildup and they even added a funky vocal reverb when the lyrics referenced LSD.  

The last thing I think I need to add is how much I love the vocals in this album. The lead singer has a higher voice and uses it very well. There are vibratos and falsettos in all the right places and it feels like the singer knows exactly what will sound perfect.

Overall, I’d say if you’re in a content mood, not necessarily brimming with glee but also not necessarily upset, I’d recommend this album.  The songs in this album make me feel seen as someone who doesn’t always know how she feels. 

— dj dragonfly