There’s is always a certain charm in music that doesn’t try to hide its seams. On The Stories That You Weave, Victims of the New Math, helmed by longtime songwriter Thomas Young, leans fully into that feel, crafting a lo-fi indie rock record that feels immediate yet unpolished in all the right ways. Catchy tunes, fantastic instrumentals from start to finish, you can literally feel the soul emanating from this record coming from the first track.

Across 12 songs in a tight 36 minute runtime, Young builds a world that’s both sonically diverse and emotional. There’s a deliberate looseness to the production, self-recorded and self-produced, that gives the album its character. Rather than sanding down the edges with unnecessary polish, he lets them show, creating a listening experience that feels alive. You can almost hear the air between the instruments based on how the production sounds.

Musically, the album is certainly rooted in rock, but there’s so much more that shows itself throughout the listen. It dips into classic indie rock textures, drifts into dreamy, almost hazy indie-pop, and occasionally flashes with the grit of vintage garage rock. Despite those stylistic shifts though, nothing ever feels out of place. It all threads together into a singular vision and flows super naturally. From the opener “The Run Up” that immerses you into the world, you’re always getting something new sounding.

Young’s instrumentation was such a major standout for us throughout. Handling the vocals, guitars, bass, keys, and drums, he constructs each track with a looseness. The arrangements are layered but never cluttered, allowing every single element to breathe while still contributing to the overall aura of the album. “Only in my Dreams” and “We Can Be Anything” are wildly different songs, but in the context, they 100% deserve to be on the same record.

On the songwriting end, the album wrestles with some big, universal themes too. The complexities of love and loss, the challenge of staying optimistic in a world that doesn’t always make it easy, and plenty more. Maybe it’s the vocal delivery, but it never feels heavy-handed. Instead, those ideas drift in and out of focus, like you’re being invited to apply your own meanings as well.

At its core, this is an album built on persistence, on a songwriter who has spent decades refining his craft. In our opinion, it feels timeless in its own way. It could be because of that vintage indie rock sound he’s got going on, but it’s also the DIY aspect of feeling like you’re in the room where it was recorded. It’s easy listening if you want it to be, but don’t be afraid to dive head first into everything it’s got to offer either!

The Stories That You Weave is excellent, let us make that clear. We suggest you listen in untouched from start to finish to really get the vision. Go ahead and click those links below to listen in, follow along, and of course to stay tuned for more.

Listen to “The Stories That You Weave”

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Victims of the New Math crafts a full album experience with "The Stories That You Weave"