Peach Pit

Vancouver indie rockers Peach Pit fuse jangling, uptempo guitar pop with melancholic lyrics, a blend sometimes labeled "sad pop." Their self-released debut, Being So Normal, reached listeners worldwide in 2017 and led directly to a Columbia deal that yielded the 2020 follow-up You and Your Friends. The group’s third album, From 2 to 3, surfaced in 2022 with a warmer, acoustic-leaning palette that propelled it to number three on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart; they then reunited with the same production team for the 2024 release Magpie.

The quartet formed in 2014 when high school friends Neil Smith on vocals and guitar and Chris Vanderkooy on lead guitar joined forces with Vanderkooy’s childhood companion Peter Wilton on bass and Mikey Pascuzzi on drums. Smith had already performed in the folk outfit Dogwood and Dahlia, while Vanderkooy and Wilton had first picked up guitars under a shared instructor. The members spent a full year composing and rehearsing before making their live debut. Issued on the Vancouver D.I.Y. imprint Kingfisher Bluez, Being So Normal took its title from harsh remarks delivered by battle-of-the-bands judges. A Philippines-based fan with a popular video channel posted the track “Peach Pit,” sparking global interest as listeners connected with the depressive, autobiographical tone of Smith’s writing.

After touring North America and Europe, the band signed with Columbia, which issued the John Congleton-produced You and Your Friends in 2020. For their next project they enlisted producer Robbie Lackritz, known for work with Feist and Jack Johnson, and leaned further into acoustic and organic textures. From 2 to 3 arrived in early 2022 and peaked at number three on the Heatseekers Albums chart; multi-instrumentalist Dougal McLean joined the lineup around the same period. Peach Pit soon returned to the studio alongside Lackritz and engineer Dave Ogilvie—whose credits include David Bowie and Xavier Rudd—to complete Magpie, issued by Columbia in October 2024.