Samuel Sandoval’s new full-length record, Current Pretender, is a sonic stained-glass window into the colorful mind of a young man wrestling and dancing with existentialism. The anthology is track after track of therapeutic acoustic guitar-led confessions and realizations: tracks like “I Mime” tip-toe instrumentally among bizarre ambient sounds and Sandoval’s layered-pensive vocals. As esoteric as some tracks can be, others like “Falling Asleep to Your Parents Watching TV Pt. 1” are gorgeously composed, with honey-sweet piano melodies and soothing flowing-water samples creating a cave of wondrous sounds. Much like life itself, Connecticut resident Samuel Sandoval’s record encompasses beauty, ugliness, weirdness, love, hope, and existence as you want to see it. We are streaming the indie-folk tune “Madam Day” from the new album below. – Rene Cobar
