LISTEN: Vansire Returns With Bright & Sentimental Pop Excellence On “For the Moment”

Vansire, the project of Minnesota musicians Josh Augustin and Sam Winemiller, crafts breezy indie-pop songs that feel modest in a Midwest way yet intricate and sticky, capable of hooking onto spaces and emotions without receding into the background. Since high school, coming up on 2010s chillwave and slacker rock listening to artists like Beach Fossils and Toro y Moi, their knack for melody and atmosphere has developed naturally across a catalog of beloved, self-produced and self-released albums and EPs, international tours, and genre-crossing collabs from Barrie and MUNYA to Pink Siifu and Mick Jenkins.

The duo’s latest LP, Taking Solace, is set for release on June 5th, and finds them reaching for love as a means of comfort and connection, a balm as society’s edges ever-sharpen. Toeing the line between melancholy and optimism with some of their strongest, most mature and straightforward songwriting, Vansire frames the act of taking solace as valid, positive, even political. 

“For the Moment,” the latest single from Vansire and our first preview of the duo’s anticipated new LP, is an infectious, nimble display of their individuality. With the soft thuds of the percussion and the lively yet relaxing, colorful vocal performance, Vansire makes their return known with an unforgettable single. “For the Moment” toes the line between danceable and sentimental, finding a home under both the warm glow of suburban streetlights and the pulsating strobe lights of a dance club. Even with its palpable pop tendencies, Vansire’s latest is far from a reach at playlist placement or radio airwaves. The duo’s new single is as soulful as pop comes, as the hypnotic vocals parade around the minimalistic yet potent arrangement with grace and care. Taking Solace is already shaping up to be a special release for Vansire, as the lead single indicates an artistic evolution that is still rooted in the duo’s singularity.