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Sep 27, 2022 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Jarita Hui

Back in 2018, Chicago-based musician and producer Alana Schachtel debuted her experimental pop outfit Lipsticism with her first full-length record, Emergency. With a combination of placid synth beds, vocals, field recordings, and samples, Schachtel has crafted a cosmic style of otherworldly pop, beginning a musical journey that most recently saw her tour with Avey Tare of Animal Collective and opening for Blue Hawaii and Living Hour.

Today, she’s back with news of her forthcoming sophomore record, Two Mirrors Facing Each Other, out December 2nd. Accompanying the announcement, she has also shared the record’s lead single, “Sentimental,” premiering with Under the Radar.

With “Sentimental” Schachtel once again explores the outer reaches of floating pop psychedelia, drifting through pristine glassy soundscapes colored by gentle swells of melody. The track pulls the listener along via Schachtel’s ethereal vocals, immersing them in a sea of tranquil synths and chiming guitar lines. The track is filled with hazy sonic textures and sentimental lyrical memories, as the lyrics find Schachtel evoking childhood joy through the nostalgic vignettes of an old home video.

As she explains, “Before writing this song my family unearthed a lot of old family videos I hadn’t seen. I didn’t expect it but I was really overtaken with a sense of grief. The videos were so sweet, my family was different and there was so much joy. I really wanted to go back and I like couldn’t deal with the certainty that I cannot and will not ever go back. I had to do something about these big feelings so I made this song, and I think it helped to make sense out of those feelings.”

“My friend Luke Hogfoss sent me some guitar, bass, and percussion and I chopped it all up and produced this song, which honestly served 100% as a vehicle to grapple with and move through my grief. Luke and I decided to make a video for this with our friend Henry and we found all these spots in rural central Washington that symbolize the passage of time- — like a half-dried-up lake and an old Masonic Temple’s defunct theater ticket booth.”

Check out the song and video below. Two Mirrors Facing Each Other is out everywhere on December 2nd.