Dying In The Material World by Barren Blue arrives like a welcome gut punch to the indie rock landscape. Released on July 15th, 2025, this raw and reflective 11-track journey clocks in at just under 30 minutes, but don’t mistake its brevity for simplicity. What this solo Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist has constructed here is nothing short of a compact epic, rooted in introspection, existential weight, and a surprising amount of musical sunshine.

Born out of a year defined by global upheaval and personal reckonings, the album feels like a sonic diary etched in both dread and clarity. The title alone sets the tone: a tongue-in-cheek nod to George Harrison’s Living in the Material World, flipped on its axis for a time in which mortality hangs heavy and hope flickers like a candle in wind. But while the themes dive deep, grappling with impermanence, isolation, and the meaning we assign to chaos—the sound is vibrantly alive.

Guitars chime, shimmer, and, when needed, snarl. The influence of The Beatles is present in the structure and melodic choices, particularly in the way chord progressions often pull the emotional rug out from under you just as things start to feel familiar. However, he never leans too hard on the nostalgia pedal. Instead, these classic rock echoes are woven seamlessly into a tapestry that also nods to the punchy urgency of ‘90s pop-punk and the soul-searching melancholy of early 2000s indie. Think the sweetness of Death Cab for Cutie with the grit of Jawbreaker, but fronted by someone with a uniquely Midwestern lens and a poet’s heart.

Recorded in a home studio, the record embraces its lo-fi edges with pride. There's a tactile, hand-crafted quality to the production, a reminder that this is one person pouring everything into every note, lyric, and beat.

There are moments of dreamy melody, sharp stabs of lyrical angst, and sudden drops into reflection too. Despite its thematic heaviness, there’s a strange optimism that glows beneath the surface, as if through the act of naming the void, he’s learning to live alongside it.

Ultimately, Dying In The Material World doesn’t try to give answers. It does something harder, it sits with the questions. It captures what it feels like to be alive in a world that can’t stop crumbling, while still finding beauty.

Barren Blue may be a solo project, but Dying In The Material World is a universal message dressed in indie rock gold. A compact, deeply human piece that deserves to be played loud and remembered long after the material fades.

So please, go ahead and click those links below to get into this record! Don’t forget to follow along either for plenty more.

Listen to "Dying In The Material World"

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Barren Blue confronts the void with a spark on album, “Dying In The Material World”