Drowner

Drowner, an atmospheric pop project from Houston, Texas, traces its origins to 2008, when multi-instrumentalist Darren Emanuel first explored guitar effects and textures outside the music he created with his band Swimming In. Although portions of this shoegaze-inspired style surfaced in his trip-hop-influenced project Apples to Earth, Emanuel kept developing moodier songs that required a distinct vocal delivery. Longtime friend singer/lyricist Anna Bouchard entered the picture as his collaborator in 2010. By January 2011 the duo had prepared to record their self-titled EP, which appeared that June. Guitarist Sean Evans and bassist Mike Brewer joined several months later, after which the band signed with Fort Worth, Texas-based Saint Marie Records; the label issued an expanded reissue of the Drowner EP early in 2012 ahead of the full-length debut. Ron Rushing came aboard shortly after the other new members, and in 2013 the long-running debut full-length You're Beautiful, I Forgive You was released.