Rain Gregorio

Rain Gregorio’s EP “Myrtle on Holiday” is a bold re-introduction for the Los Angeles indie rock lifer, revealing an unforeseen vulnerability to his songwriting while expanding his own sonic palette. Recalling the lush, overcast moods of Swedish indie-pop outfit the Radio Dept., as well as the close-to-the-vest style embraced by the rosters of Labrador and Sincerely Yours, these songs signal exciting new frontiers for Gregorio as he gives his own unique spin on those sounds.

The EP was written in the spring of 2021, during what Gregorio describes as “a tumultuous period in my life.” After crafting these missives from a range of moods and experiences—feelings of alienation and growing apart from others, as well as the management of daily life’s malaise—Gregorio brought producer Jon Joseph in to flesh everything out.

The chiming guitars of “Home Sick” lay just below Gregorio’s vulnerable vocals in a way that recalls the work of indie rock aesthetes Hovvdy, while “Tomorrow Keeps Happening” aches with a dusky melody that blooms into a winsome chorus. Then there’s the title track, which represents Gregorio’s greatest leap yet. Backed by contributing vocalist Lexi Vega (of Mini Trees) and over a static hug of a beat, Gregorio unspools lyrical musings drawn from his own mind as well as from a chance encounter with a stranger in public, as he used the interaction to directly influence the song’s thematic shape. “Myrtle on Holiday” is out now everywhere on Anxiety Blanket Records.

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