Next month, Gia Margaret will release her debut album, There’s Always Glimmer. That title gives some intimation as to what the Chicago-based musician sounds like. Her songs are starry ballads that feel eternal but immediate. Its lead single is “Birthday,” whose pull is gentle but inescapable. It’s lush and textured, expertly crafted with a heady rush of atmosphere and Gia Margaret’s hypnotic delivery.

The song pokes at a lingering absence. It’s about the weird feeling that comes when one day someone’s there and the next they’re gone. “Wouldn’t it be so strange not to be with you on your birthday?” she asks in the chorus. “Could it ever feel okay not to be with you on your birthday?” The song unfurls confidently despite that deep loss, the instrumentation churns mechanical as Gia Margaret marks the passing of time in celebrations of a life no longer shared together.

Listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Groceries”
02 “Birthday”
03 “Figures”
04 “Smoke”
05 “Goodnight”
06 “In Normal Ways”
07 “Looking”
08 “For Flora”
09 “Sugar”
10 “Exist”
11 “Wayne”
12 “West”

There’s Always Glimmer is out 7/27 via Orindal Records. Pre-order it here.