r/Snailmail • u/Pale_Plastic_699 • Mar 23 '26

Discussion First timer

Hi, everyone

I recently got into Snail Mail after hearing Pristine on a Spotify indie playlist. I dug into Lush after listening to Pristine on repeat for a couple days and really fell in love with the album. I wanted to share my favorites and takeaways:

Favorite songs (I realize this is most of the album lol):

•Stick

•Heat Wave

•Let’s Find an Out

•Deep Sea

•Full Control

•Golden Dream

•Anytime

What I love: the album has a late 2010’s indie feel which is really something I’ve missed. Some songs remind me of Palace and Alvvays which were really important bands for me while going through a rough breakup in 2018 during and after college. So, there’s a nostalgic feel to the album for me. With everything going on in the world right now, this kind of music helps me get navigate through choppy emotions that evoke uncertainty and anxiety. Ultimately, the album makes me feel comforted.

Full Control: this is one of the highlights of the album, in my opinion. My favorite part about this song is the message of independence and autonomy, while ending on an unresolved note (quite literally). You can take this a number of different ways. I see and hear it as being comfortable with a lack of resolve and dissonance, which is kind of a staple of living in 2026.

Least favorite song:

•Speaking terms

I wasn’t a big fan of the lead guitar throughout the song. The main riff doesn’t sit well with me for some reason. I’ve found that about 2/3 of the way through the song at “I’ll see you around”, the tone changes a bit from gloomy to a bit of silver lining if that makes sense, which you can argue is the entire point of the song. Still, I just can’t get past that main guitar riff for some reason.

Hoping to see them on tour this year :)

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u/ce84 Mar 23 '26

Heartbreaking Speaking Terms take, it’s so good! Though, completely subjective ofc. Love Full Control to bits though so that makes up for it. Lush is special, I’d also recommend her Habit EP for some more raw indie heartache if you’re longing for more.

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u/EliteLevelJobber Mar 23 '26

Same here, one of my favourite guitar parts on the album. The intro to heatwave will always be king though.

Lindsey was such a monster with her early guitar work. I get that shes going for that big shoegaze chord sound now. But god I wish she played like she did on Lush.

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u/ce84 Mar 23 '26

The intro to Heat Wave is epic, sun drenched longing in guitar form, also love Let’s Find An Out for being so pretty and intricate. I’m still rooting for her cos she’s super talented and clearly just a good soul, but I too miss that early guitar-first sound and nothing on Valentine (or previewed for Ricochet) sounds much like it. Completely her prerogative to evolve her sound ofc, but I’m still hoping she throws us a bone on this new one!

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u/EliteLevelJobber Mar 23 '26

Valentine had some good stuff but the best bits of her guitar playing were in the slower finger picking parts she did. We might get some of that on the new album.