Description
RELEASE DATE: 11/7/2025
Mainstays of the D.C. DIY scene, Pretty Bitter live up to their name. Masters of all kinds of dissonance, they juxtapose stories of haunting and heartbreak with dazzling pop-rock arrangements. Pretty Bitter makes music that gets the emo kids dancing. Theyre unafraid to infuse their blistering breakdowns with hits of disco and synthpopand thats exactly what theyve done on Pleaser, their sophomore album, co-produced by Evan Weiss (Into It. Over It., Pet Symmetry) and Simon Small (Strawberry Boy) and out July 25th, 2025 via cult favorite indie label Tiny Engines. Following a string of ethereal singles, their 2022 debut Hinges formally introduced Pretty Bitter and their dreampunk to a rapidly growing audience. Fearlessly led by Mel Bleker and sharing studio and touring members with D.C. punk all-stars Ekko Astral, Pretty Bitter has been embraced by DIY fans far and wide. On Pleaser, Pretty Bitter have amped up the drama of their lush arrangementsa match made in heaven for the emotional ferocity of Blekers lyricism. If everything is out there, nothings embarrassing, they sigh on I Hope You Do, expertly toeing the line between the personal and the universal over bright, bubbling synths. On the arresting closer Outer Heaven, Bleker sings Time isnt a lover in the way it likes to play / Im getting older, every due I pay / Time isnt a bandage in the way you always say / I wont be abandoned by myself again this way. Their observational, heart-on-sleeve songwriting is as effortless as their flittering between the jangly, dreamy inclinations of rock, pop, and folk. Pleaser is a triumph, an instantly lovable record that reveals just how bright Pretty Bitters future is.
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