Cross Record is the project of spouses Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski, two Texas-based Chicagoans specializing in darkly atmospheric nighttime rock. “Steady Waves” is the lead single from their upcoming sophomore album Wabi-Sabi, and it’s the kind of song that makes you want to hear a lot more from a band. As the track builds from gentle acoustic arpeggios and whispers to a howling rhythmic climax and back, it alternates between gentle intimacy and a creeping sense of foreboding. Let it wash over you below.

Here is the Wabi-Sabi tracklist, which features a song called “Something Unseen Touches A Flower To My Forehead,” which is awesome:
01 “The Curtains”
02 “Two Rings”
03 “Steady Waves”
04 “High Rise”
05 “Something Unseen Touches A Flower To My Forehead”
06 “The Depths”
07 “Basket”
08 “Wasp In A Jar”
09 “Lemon”

Wabi-Sabi is out 1/29/16 on Ba Da Bing. Pre-order it here. And no, those scorpions on the album cover are not Cross and Duszynski. Here’s the former:

[Photo by Madeline Harvey.]