Small Black

Ranging across chillwave textures and refined electro-pop, Small Black weaves yearning, distortion, and tunefulness into richly nostalgic tracks. Their 2009 self-titled EP and the 2010 debut full-length New Chain blended lo-fi shoegaze with synth-pop elements that helped establish chillwave while echoing the broader indie practice of embedding personal loss within handmade sonic palettes. Throughout the 2010s and into later years the group refined its approach, foregrounding 1980s sophisti-pop leanings on 2013’s Limits of Desire; even as the arrangements grew more controlled, releases such as 2021’s Cheap Dreams retained the songwriting’s core emotional weight.

Small Black began with its name alone and traced a path backward from there: on a frigid Portland, Oregon evening, a housemate of singer and multi-instrumentalist Josh Kolenik coined the title, which endured after Kolenik returned to Long Island, New York and teamed with local musician Ryan Heyner, an ex-member of the hardcore outfit Silent Majority who already shared mutual acquaintances with Kolenik. The duo sequestered themselves in the attic of the beach house and surfboard workshop owned by Kolenik’s uncle, capturing material on vintage keyboards and samplers during late 2008 and early 2009 while Uncle Matt shaped boards below.

Although Kolenik had prior band experience, the shoegaze-synth-pop hybrid he and Heyner developed stood out, and the roster solidified when bassist and guitarist Juan Pieczanski along with Jeff Curtin—both formerly of Kolenik’s earlier group Slowlands—came aboard to strengthen production and expand the live configuration. Small Black issued its five-song self-titled EP independently on the CassClub imprint in October 2009, followed by the U.K. single “Despicable Dogs” and an accompanying video starring Uncle Matt. After appearances at the year’s CMJ Music Marathon, the band signed with Jagjaguwar Records, which re-released the debut EP with two added tracks in 2010; that same year Small Black also put out a split single with kindred act Washed Out and joined them on tour. The first full-length, New Chain, emerged in October 2010 with a modestly sharpened sound shaped by steady road work and an affinity for hip-hop. In late 2011 the group supplied the Moon Killer mixtape as a gratis download from its site; built from samples spanning Pere Ubu to Nicki Minaj, the set incorporated several guest spots by Das Racist’s Heems plus reworkings by Star Slinger and Phonetag.

Following extensive touring in 2012, Small Black resurfaced with May 2013’s Limits of Desire, a more polished collection drawing from Talk Talk and the Blue Nile. The subsequent year’s Real People EP, oriented toward the dancefloor and featuring vocals by Frankie Rose, included the band’s reading of the latter act’s “Downtown Lights.” Small Black’s engagement with sophisti-pop deepened on October 2015’s Best Blues. Self-recorded in the group’s Brooklyn home studio and mixed by Nicholas Vernhes at Rare Book Room Studio, the album featured trumpet contributions from the Antlers’ Darby Cicci and vocals from Kaede Ford. Shortly after Best Blues appeared, Uncle Matt passed away, an event that later shaped many songs on the band’s fourth album. Released on 100% Electronica in April 2021, the introspective Cheap Dreams marked Small Black’s return from hiatus with an added gothic shading to its synth-pop reveries. In 2023 the group revisited its catalog through two archival projects: a deluxe tenth-anniversary edition of Limits of Desire and a deluxe version of the debut EP containing previously unheard material from the early beach-house sessions.