Geowulf - My Resignation (2019)

"It's always the mindset of an artist to try and work on getting better with each album, an onwards and upwards kind of thing," says Star Kendrick. In every possible way, that is the essence of Geowulf on My Resignation. The sophomore record from the London-via-Australia duo of Kendrick and Toma Banjanin is an effort of growth not just musically, but personally. Their development from 2018's Great Big Blue to this point is as much a testament to their progression as artists as it is their blossoming as individuals.Kendrick in particular made great strides between albums. After all, having a career in music wasn't her initial intention -- in fact, she spent quite some time wandering rudderless. Years were spent bouncing around to six different universities, chasing four different degrees. Even when she finally found something she truly enjoyed (visual arts), pursuing her new interest took her a country where she had no connections, Sweden, while it was locked in the harsh grip of winter. All that drifting had landed her surrounded by unfamiliar, cold terrain, leaving her feeling anxious and withdrawn. As an outlet for the mounting frustration, she bought a guitar and paired the few chords she knew with the poems in her journals. Training herself to record via YouTube how-tos, she felt more inspired than ever before. Perhaps she was drawn there genetically, an inherited link to parents who hadn't raised her but were musicians themselves. Whatever the case, as Kendrick poured herself into her songs, often to the point of tears, she knew she'd discovered what she says is "what I was waiting for… the thing I was meant to do."