Written by: Alex Green

The debut album No Gasoline, by Widemouth instantly brings to mind Marcus Aurelius’ notion that “introspection is where the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”

Keeping that in mind, No Gasoline is positively kaleidoscopic.

The indie folk outfit from Chicago play with such assured self-reflection, the album’s thirteen-track song cycle ends up being a rather astonishing listen.

Formed in 2023 by Northwestern undergrads Mak Carnahan and Jamie Eder, Widemouth play with a quiet intimacy and a gorgeous stillness that gives each composition a raw vulnerability that’s balanced out by Eder and Carnahan’s stunning harmonies.

Thematically, No Gasoline explores the range of memory, the loneliness of getting older and the devastating power of departure. From “Hotel Pool” to “Raincoat,” there’s a sense of being lost and found, but both coming at a price. Being lost reinforces our dislocation with the world, while being found, though a seemingly sturdier outcome, only fixes us to a place that’s so unfamiliar, we might end up feeling more lost there than ever.

In other words, it’s hard to be a person, and No Gasoline effortlessly traverses the terrain between knowing who we are and not being sure it’s even who we want to be in the first place.

The album opener, “I Wish You Passed On A Little Anger” perfectly crystalizes the familiar with the unfamiliar as we are introduced to people we’ve never met (“Francis smoking/And Cristian gone…”), but feelings we’ve all had (“I don’t forgive you, but I sure love you…”).

Backed by rolling percussion, Carnahan’s delivery brings to mind everyone from Waxahatchee to Kathleen Edwards and her interplay with Eder gives “I Wish You Passed On A Little Anger” a lilting quality that’s filled with hushed delicacy and poetic finesse.