Trails and Ways

Oakland, CA's Trails and Ways is a band built on plurality. Their songs never shy away from personal and political heavy-lifting, while making some of the most compelling pop music we've heard in some time. The four bandmates (Hannah and Keith on guitar, Ian on drums, and Emma on bass) cast off from the co-op houses at UC Berkeley in the depths of the great recession. They headed to live as far afield as Ceará in Brazil and Galicia in Spain before reuniting in Oakland to start the DIY bedroom recording project that became Trails and Ways. The sound they cultivated is a fascinating mix of the melancholy of bossa nova, the fearlessness of basement indie rock, driving grooves from the end of disco, and the slick shine of radio pop. Call it what you will; hearing it is like stumbling into the warmth of an intimate dance party among friends.