Worn Through - Barely Real (2025)

“I’m so far away from it all now // Can’t say I know how // I wanted that soft sting // Not even the real thing // I wanted something I could feel // Barely real”—these are the first beautiful sentences of the title track of Barely Real, the summery full-length debut album of Baltimore’s Worn Through, that well reflect what their music stands for, sounding seasoned but never jaded.

Matt Umland (guitar, vocals), Sophie Pumphrey (guitar, vocals), Greg Stull (guitar, vocals), Nick Heitman (bass), and Matt O’Conke (drums) deliver twilight alt-country that ache and soothe in equal measure. These are twelve charming songs—pop sensibilities and hooks galore—for driveway beers and the long ride home, full of melancholy twang, and rhythms that cruise gently down the backroads of memory. Worn Through isn’t chasing something—they’ve arrived, quietly and fully themselves.