Battleme

Matt Drenik, known primarily as the lead singer and guitarist for Austin, Texas outfit Lions, channels lo-fi folk and electronic textures through his Battleme solo outlet. The project began in 2009 once he received a uveitis diagnosis, the autoimmune disorder that targets eyesight, at which point his songwriting took on a more expansive and introspective cast. In search of a home for the growing catalog, he left Austin for Portland, Oregon and tracked material in his basement, ultimately producing more than forty songs. Ghostland Observatory’s Thomas Turner took notice and placed him on the Trashy Moped roster in 2010. Drenik kept sharpening the aesthetic, shaping a reflective fusion of lo-fi, folk, and electro that stood apart from the expansive rock workouts of LIONS. The first full-length under the Battleme name, the self-titled Battleme, appeared in 2012 on Trashy Moped.

Future Runs Magnetic arrived two years later with Doug Boehm—whose credits include Tokyo Police Club, Girls, and Guided by Voices—behind the boards. Habitual Love Songs surfaced in 2016 and spotlighted the single “Shake Shake.” Drenik subsequently scaled back for a solo EP, then resumed full-band activity on 2017’s Cult Psychotica, which contained the singles “Testament” and “Hot Mess.”