Drowner

The roots of Houston, Texas' atmospheric pop project Drowner began in 2008, when multi-instrumentalist Darren Emanuel began experimenting with guitar effects and textures that went beyond the music he was making with his band at the time, Swimming In. While some of this shoegaze-inspired approach made it into his trip-hop-influenced project Apples to Earth, Emanuel continued to write moodier songs that he felt needed a different vocal approach. Enter singer/lyricist Anna Bouchard, a longtime friend with whom Emanuel began collaborating in 2010. By January of 2011, the duo was ready to record its self-titled EP, which was released in June. A few months later, Emanuel and Bouchard added guitarist Sean Evans and bassist Mike Brewer joined the fold, and the group signed to the Fort Worth, Texas-based label Saint Marie Records, which reissued an expanded version of the Drowner EP early in 2012 in anticipation of the band's full-length debut. Ron Rushing joined the fold shortly after the other new musicians, and in 2013 the group's long-running debut full-length, You're Beautiful, I Forgive You, was released.