david safran - a few lines later

In 2024, veteran Chicago singer-songwriter David Safran quietly released an EP called THE LITTLE RECIDIVIST—title cheekily named after John Cale's snarky observation of a teenage Safran. Despite a lack of reviews or publicity, THE LITTLE RECIDIVIST unexpectedly received substantial airplay across US and Canadian college/indie radio, entering many individual stations' top 30 charts. Two years later, Safran is returning with A FEW LINES LATER, his first LP since 2012. A FEW LINES LATER was largely inspired by Safran's former day job screening condolence notes for an online obituary company. "[D]eath work didn’t lead me to a greater understanding of life," Safran admitted in a 2024 article in The Guardian revealing his strange job. "Mostly it just reinforced what I already worried about." Across nine tracks, including would-be hits off THE LITTLE RECIDIVIST, Safran's acerbic, bleakly comedic voice sums up those worries while flitting between dark post-punk, riff-heavy power-pop, gleefully scuzzy garage rock, and stark, pensive folk. Backed by a formidable ensemble of musicians including Jason Narducy (Bob Mould, Sunny Day Real Estate, Superchunk), Sean O'Keefe (Fall Out Boy, Beach Bunny, Plain White T's), Jason Batchko (Local H, The Tossers), and Johnny Iguana (The Claudettes, The Bear score composer), A FEW LINES LATER is Safran's first release with Birdwatcher Records, part of the Northern Spy Label Group, and Redeye Distribution.