Blue Reminder
| Blue Reminder | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 22, 2025 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Indie folk[2] | |||
| Length | 46:17 | |||
| Label | Fat Possum | |||
| Producer |
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| Hand Habits chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Blue Reminder | ||||
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Blue Reminder is the sixth studio album by the American musician Hand Habits. It was released on August 22, 2025, via Fat Possum in LP, CD and digital formats.[3][4]
Background
[edit]Preceded by Hand Habits' fifth record in 2022, Fun House + Blueprints, and co-produced with Joseph Lorge, the album features collaborators including Blake Mills and Tim Carr.[3][5] It was recorded in Los Angeles and composes twelve tracks ranging between two and five minutes with a total runtime of approximately forty-six minutes.[6] "Wheel of Change" was released as the first single on June 4, 2025, alongside a music video directed by Otium.[7]
Reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| The Line of Best Fit | [2] |
| Paste | 8.0/10[8] |
| Pitchfork | 7.9/10[9] |
AllMusic assigned the album a rating of four stars and remarked, "what's more impressive is that Blue Reminder remains distinctly vulnerable and intimate, with songs about things like insecurity, regret, and calm devotion."[4]
Paste's Cassidy Sollazzo rated it 8.0 out of ten, describing it as "cohesive in a way that feels so unintentionally natural, the live recording process coating every song in warmth and comfort."[8]
The album received a 8/10 rating from the Line of Best Fit, which referred to it as "an album that vibrates with courage, tenderness, and a sheer insistence to feel," and "not just another indie-folk sojourn; it’s a declaration of presence."[2]
Marissa Lorusso of Pitchfork assigned the album a rating of 7.9, noting that "Duffy offers something of a mission statement for continuing to probe these paradoxes: 'Songs bloom,' they sing, 'from the wreckage.'," in addition to suggesting it is "rife with these dualities: how contentment can commingle with anxiety; how the past bears on the present; how new love can show up just when the world seems hopeless."[9]
PopMatters considered it "gorgeously produced and expertly arranged," before concluding that the album was "a work that should be counted among the year’s most successful offerings."[10]
Track listing
[edit]All tracks are written by Meg Duffy; "Bluebird of Happiness" written with Leora Spring and Marina Allen.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "More Today" | 5:07 |
| 2. | "Wheel of Change" | 4:25 |
| 3. | "Nubble" | 4:08 |
| 4. | "Dead Rat" | 2:44 |
| 5. | "Jasmine Blossoms" | 3:41 |
| 6. | "Way It Goes" | 4:15 |
| 7. | "(Forgiveness)" | 2:19 |
| 8. | "Beauty 62" | 4:25 |
| 9. | "Bluebird of Happiness" | 3:18 |
| 10. | "Blue Reminder" | 3:45 |
| 11. | "Quiet Summer" | 5:29 |
| 12. | "Living Proof" | 2:41 |
| Total length: | 46:17 | |
Personnel
[edit]Credits adapted from Bandcamp and Tidal.[1][11]
- Meg Duffy – lead vocals, production, additional engineering (all tracks); electric guitar (track 7)
- Joseph Lorge – production, engineering (all tracks); electric guitar (3, 6)
- Ella Feingold – additional engineering
- Griffin Goldsmith – engineering (all tracks), drums (2)
- Huntley Miller – mastering
- Tim Carr – drums (1–9, 11)
- Alan Wyffels – piano (1–4, 6, 7, 11), flute (10)
- Remy Morritt – drums (1)
- Patrick Kelly – bass guitar (2, 9, 11)
- Gregory Uhlmann – electric guitar (2, 3, 5, 7–9, 11), acoustic guitar (4), drums (6)
- Jenn Wasner – background vocals (2)
- Daniel Aged – bass guitar (3–5, 8, 12)
- Benny Bock – piano (3, 9), synthesizer (10, 12)
- Rose Droll – synthesizer (3, 8), piano (12)
- Miya Folick – background vocals (5)
- Josh Johnson – saxophone (5–7)
- Ella Feingold – electric guitar (8)
- Blake Mills – electric guitar, additional production (9)
- Marina Allen – background vocals (9)
- Anna Butters – bassoon (10)
- Olivia Kaplan – background vocals (11)
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Blue Reminder | Hand Habits". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on June 19, 2025. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
- ^ a b c Young, Matt (August 19, 2025). "Hand Habits: Blue Reminder review - honest love". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
- ^ a b Chelosky, Danielle (June 4, 2025). "Hand Habits Announces New Album Blue Reminder: Hear "Wheel Of Change"". Stereogum. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
- ^ a b c Donelson, Marcy. "Blue Reminder - Hand Habits". AllMusic. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
- ^ Murray, Robin (June 4, 2025). "Hand Habits Announces New Album Blue Reminder". Clash. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
- ^ Kelly, Tyler (June 4, 2025). "Hand Habits announces new album, Blue Reminder". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
- ^ Pearis, Bill (June 4, 2025). "Hand Habits announces new album, shares "Wheel of Change"". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
- ^ a b Sollazzo, Cassidy (August 21, 2025). "Hand Habits, Blue Reminder Album Review". Paste. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
- ^ a b Lorusso, Marissa (August 22, 2025). "Hand Habits: Blue Reminder". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
- ^ Lyng, Eoghan (August 25, 2025). "Hand Habits Fuses Classical and Jazz on Superb Album". PopMatters.
- ^ "Blue Reminder / Hand Habits / Credits". Tidal. Retrieved August 24, 2025.