Breakup Shoes - Standing Still
- Samuel Stevens
- Oct 10
- 3 min read
Over the past decade, Arizona indie rock quartet Breakup Shoes has mastered the art of turning emotional turbulence into shimmering, sun-drenched confessionals. With their latest album, Standing Still, released on October 10, 2025, the band takes that introspection to new heights, expanding their sonic palette while staying rooted in the heartfelt storytelling that has defined their catalogue since 2016’s Nicotine Dream.
Produced by Charlie Brand, the frontman of the indie pop band Miniature Tigers, Standing Still is a record about discontentment—the uneasy space between comfort and change. Frontman Nick Zawisa’s lyrics read like a personal journal entry of his last few years: filled with self-doubt, yearning, and the need to break free from stagnation. The result is Breakup Shoes’ most emotionally raw and musically adventurous project yet.
The album opens with “Moving On Is Hard...,” a fitting prologue that captures the paradox of growth—the excitement of new beginnings weighed down by the ache of what’s left behind. It sets the stage for Standing Still’s emotional journey: one foot in nostalgia, the other stepping into the unknown.
The album's lead single “Brainwash” quickly follows, wrapping existential self-loathing in infectious, indie-sleaze energy. “Clear my mind, a blank slate would be fine,” Zawisa sings over glimmering guitar lines and a danceable rhythm section. The contrast between the song’s buoyant production and its darker lyrical core is quintessential Breakup Shoes—a reminder that even the brightest melodies can hide a bruised heart.
Elsewhere, “Malaise” finds the band channelling frustration into groove. Originally written as a darker, shoegaze-inspired cut, it evolved into an atmospheric, disco-imbued indie jam with pulsing basslines, bongo flourishes, some glockenspiel, and reverberated tom fills. It’s an irresistible reflection of the album’s themes—motion and stagnation colliding in real time.
Whereas tracks like “The Suburbs” and “Universal” explore feelings of displacement and longing, painting vivid scenes of suburban ennui and quiet introspection. The keyboard-driven number “Anti-Social Socialite” adds a sardonic twist, poking fun at isolation in an era of constant connection, while the emo-tinged track “Midwest Goodbye” delivers one of the record’s most bittersweet hooks—a love letter to fleeting moments and the people who pass through them.
The album’s emotional centrepiece comes in the track, “Copacetic.” The single is a wistful daydream of escapism. Driven by warm acoustics, dreamy synths, and sparkling guitars, it imagines a world where peace and contentment feel within reach—even if only it's in fantasy. “We tried to push our boundaries on this one,” says Zawisa, and it very much shows: the song radiates a nostalgic indie rock warmth that feels both familiar and brand new, that meets somewhere in the realm of modern emo and pop punk.
“Infinitely Sweet” serves as a slow moment of gentle reflection before the closing track, “…But So Is Standing Still” hits. The title track ties the record’s narrative together, acknowledging that while movement often feels necessary, there’s also meaning to be found in stillness—in recognizing where you are before deciding where to go next.
Across its ten tracks, Standing Still showcases a band fully in tune with both their craft and their emotional center. The production from Charlie Brand enhances their sound with richer textures—shimmering synths, layered harmonies, an assortment of other instruments, and subtle percussive details that breathe new life into their familiar dream-pop sensibilities.
Ultimately, Standing Still is a meditation on change, comfort, and the quiet panic of adulthood. It’s Breakup Shoes’ most cohesive and mature work to date—not because it has all the answers, but because it’s unafraid to admit it doesn’t.
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