We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Buddy

by Stay Mad

supported by
lornatod
lornatod thumbnail
gerikolesar
gerikolesar thumbnail
nickkran
nickkran thumbnail
natty lite
natty lite thumbnail
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Pre-order of Buddy. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    Purchasable with gift card
    releases June 21, 2024

      $7 USD  or more

     

  • Cassette + Digital Album

    This is a preorder and we can not guarantee shipping times!

    Includes digital pre-order of Buddy. You get 1 track now (streaming via the free Bandcamp app and also available as a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more), plus the complete album the moment it’s released.
    shipping out on or around June 21, 2024

      $10 USD or more 

     

1.
Marsh 03:30
buy track
2.
Friendly
3.
Evade
4.
Glide
5.
Rooftop
6.
Telling You
7.
Julia
8.
Bridge
9.
Touch ID

about

Stay Mad is Mic Adams’ venture into frontman territory, while still conducting from behind the kit. Adams is a drummer and collaborator, most notably in indie-pop group The Ophelias. Buddy, Adams’ debut solo album, places him squarely in the spotlight with a backing band of friends and collaborators from across his hometown of Cincinnati. The songs are complicated; packed with thoughts that dart around as quickly as the genres within each track change. Buddy is situated at the cross section of math rock, folk, radio-style adult contemporary, and even jazz (if you squint).

Buddy’s nine tracks traverse Adams’ anxiety, self-doubt, and ultimate acceptance of the shifting interpersonal dynamics that have shaped the last few years of his life. “You know it’s alright / to do what feels best for you / but still, you compromise” he sings in “Marsh”. Buddy takes these feelings and contorts them into strung-together images: tumbleweeds, metal slats, broken capacitors, cold sweat, his dog Honey. The imagery in the songs is tangible and distinctly Midwestern, as Adams’ language often turns to the industrial.

Adams, a trans man, delicately explores an instance of comparison to a partner’s cisgender ex in “Friendly,” singing “I don’t even know him / but he’s the main character in my dreams / i’m scrolling too far back / and testing my limits / how many years will it take this time?” Earlier in the song Adams lays his emotions bare, sighing, “I want to be a good person / and work on my patience” as distorted guitars swell around him. Transness isn’t the focus of the record, but it colors his experiences over the period of time in which Buddy takes place – feelings of displacement and nuanced relationships appear in Adams’ 28-minute quest for moral goodness.

credits

releases June 21, 2024

Engineered and mixed by John Hoffman at The Lodge in Dayton, KY.
Mastered by Heather Jones at So Big Auditory in Philadelphia, PA.
Released by Candlepin Records in Boston, MA.

Album cover by Jo Shaffer.
Bandcamp header photo by Nat Wood.

All songs written by Mic Adams.

Thank you to Spencer Peppet for guidance and encouragement.
Thank you to B Lewis for creative input and support.
Thank you to anyone I made listen to this throughout its development.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Candlepin Records image

Candlepin Records Boston, Massachusetts

a small tape label in boston ma

always hip 2 the good sound

contact / help

Contact Candlepin Records

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Buddy, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now