Charmer Season, Commence!

There's something in the water in Marquette, Michigan.

Not that you could tell at this time of year, of course. Everything is fucking frozen. But the thaw is coming soon, and with it, Marquette emo outfit Charmer will be ready to reintroduce themselves. On May 23, they will release their great new album Downpour via Counter Intuitive Records, and today they are premiering their new single "Arrowhead" on Stereogum.

When I hop on a video call with the band, the members of Charmer – vocalist/guitarist David Daignault, bassist Zack Alworden, guitarist Neil Berg, and drummer Nick Erickson – are huddled in what looks to be an unfinished basement, sitting in front of a lone stack of records and a record player. They look cold. Daignault sits in the middle, a grey hoody fully hoodied over a Detroit Red Wings hat. Being a hockey sicko myself, I have to ask him how he feels about his team this year, a team that within recent years has had to reset and start fresh. "I don't know if the Wings have what it takes to win it all," he says, "but we're good enough to get into the playoffs, I think."

Like the Red Wings, Charmer are also starting over after a bit of a reset. Since forming in 2015, they've a released two albums (2018's Charmer and 2020's ivy) and a few EPs that have become cult-classics in emo-loving circles, allowing the band to tour as far as Japan with Nashville band Free Throw. They have a bit of a foundation, yes, but things have never really took off for them as they would have hoped, not to mention 2020 was just an all-around shitty year to release a new record.

"We had a big year planned," Daignault remembers, "and then all of a sudden it was like, 'Oh, no, it's not happening.' It set us back for a bit."

Like countless of bands around the world, Charmer were forced to cancel all their plans in 2020 and beyond. Unlike other bands, however, being stuck in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan didn't give them many options to dig themselves out of the pandemic rut. "The scene up here is so secluded," Daignault says. "We have to travel like six, eight hours to go play a show in a larger volume area."

So the band went into a bit of an indefinite hiatus, getting "caught up in life and doing other shit" as they put it. The band went so dormant, they even had Redditors wondering what the fuck happened to them, prompting one user to post on the r/poppunkers Reddit "So is Charmer still a band..or?" It was a fair question, one that Daignault admits he even asked himself."I didn't think that we were gonna continue to make music and push this more. I thought it kind of ran its course."

But then Liquid Mike happened. Yes, THAT Liquid Mike. Both Daignault and Alworden currently play in the wunderkind power pop band, appearing most recently on last year's Paul Bunyan's Sling Shot, but the two bands have a history together that dates back to 2015.

"The first time I saw Charmer and met them was my freshman year at Michigan Tech in the Fall of 2015," recalls Mike Maple of Liquid Mike. "They were one of three bands that played at the college radio day on the lawn of the McArdle building to about thirty students. It was fucking freezing outside, about 45 degrees with wind blowing in. They were LOUD and my friends and I were blown away."

When Maple moved to Marquette in 2020, he hooked up with Daignault and Erickson and started a band called Curfews. At the same time, both Maple and Daignault worked on each other's projects, with Daignault helping Maple record vocals for the first Liquid Mike album, and Maple engineering Charmer's Seney Stretch EP from 2022. Alworden later joined Liquid Mike as their bass player during the recording of Liquid Mike's S/T, and Daignault officially joined the band on rhythm guitar during the recording of Paul Bunyan's Sling Shot.

"It's been really amazing to have Dave and Zack as permanent members of Liquid Mike for a lot of reasons," Maple continues. "They have great taste and bring lots of ideas to the table for songs and will let me know when I'm making a song better or worse. They're a very reliable litmus test for the songs, which is a priceless thing to have in a band. They're some of our best friends in the world and we get to play music with them. Simple as that."

Daignault says working with Liquid Mike reinvigorated his passion for making the Charmer thing work. "I absolutely love playing and working on Liquid Mike stuff," Daignault raves. "I never wanted to be a frontman, so it really gives me an outlet I've been missing. And it gave me a different perspective that inspired me to continue doing Charmer."

Much like Maple, who always seems to be working on new music, Daignault began writing songs incessantly, most of which have ended up on the new album. "After a year or so, I was sitting on 20 songs or so that I felt really good about," Daignault tells me. "I felt good about going into the studio to record our third LP, but we were also anticipating the arrival of our first child."

The band/life balance needed to be addressed, especially when three fourths of your band have kids to take care of, and kids (if you are unfamiliar) are demanding little creatures. You have to, you know, feed them and keep them alive and stuff. It's hard to find the energy each day to do anything else. "We just really had to kind of figure out our personal lives to even do this, because otherwise it would not work."

One of the things they don't tell you about becoming a parent – aside from the unsettling number of times you'll hear "Wheels On The Bus" – is how it completely closes the book of your youth. There is an inherent youth to any creative pursuit, and as you get older, it can become distressingly easy to lose that need to create. However, if you're lucky and willing to make some sacrifices, the road will eventually rise to meet you once again.

Which leads us to Downpour, Charmer's first record in five years. Recorded with producer Brett Romnes at The Barber Shop Studios in Hopatcong, NJ, Downpour is an album that the band says feels like a debut because of how long it's been and how much they've changed, both as musicians and as people. More importantly, it's the sound of a band reinvigorated by playing music again.

Here's my elevator pitch for Downpour: For those of you wondering what Title Fight might've sounded like had they made one more record and left their chorus pedals at home, Charmer might be your guys. An affinity for the Long Island and New Jersey emo scenes from the late '90s and early 2000s certainly doesn't hurt.

There is a noticeable shift in sound from Charmer's previous records. Compared to its predecessor ivy, Downpour sounds more confident. The songwriting is sharp and direct. They've clearly grown as musicians in the five years since the last one. There's less of the noodly Midwest emo guitar theatrics from their previous outputs and more dedication to the songcraft itself. There isn't any wasted space. Downpour an album with purpose.

"It's very different than anything we've ever done," Daignault says. "I think it will make people go woah, like, this is not the band we remember."

From the opening alley-oop of "Linger" into "Arrowhead," to the parting shot of "Galick Gun", Daignault writes his way through life-changing and raw emotions. He's searching for connection. His lyrics are abstract enough to attach any meaning you want to them, but on Downpour, the focus has clearly shifted. Parenthood will do that to you. One minute you're writing a song about Topanga Lawrence, and the next you're singing "Follow my directions as you tie your homemade noose" on "Arrowhead." Daignault is quick to point out, however, that Downpour isn't an album about becoming a parent, nor should the narrative around it be about that.

"There isn't a song that's specifically about parenthood, but the longer it took to get the tracks done, the more I realized how much I was writing about it subconsciously," he admits before pointing out that the song "Scream" is about "postpartum, being at home, your brain rewiring and trying to figure everything out."
So, okay, fair enough, Downpour isn't explicitly about new parenthood, but let me say one more thing and then I'll shut the fuck up about it: Becoming a parent conjures a wide range of emotions and stress to the surface that you never knew you had before. What you lose in sanity (and sleep), you gain in perspective on the life you led before all the diapers and drool.

Without that perspective, I don't think you get a song like the excellent "Rose Thorns" and the euphoric feeling it generates, in which moving on from the past finally seems possible. Not to mention, without the push and pull of the past and present self, you don't get a song like "Watercolor," a reflection on lost youth that also asks out loud if the dreams you had back then are even worth chasing anymore. "Chasing a teenage dream/ My whole world is crumbling beneath" goes the refrain.

"'Watercolor' is just about wondering why I continue this pursuit of music when I know how greatly it affects my real life," explains Daignault, reflectively. "My music life and my real life are very different. I'm constantly having to make sacrifices in my life to do the band thing. So, like, why am I continuing to do this?"

If I may, I think I can answer that hypothetical for him. You continue to do this because it is a part of you. You do it because you need it more than you need air. You do it because there is nothing like the feeling of plucking a song out of midair and being able to call it your own. You do it because if you're lucky enough, there is an album like Downpour waiting to emerge on the other side, just in time for the spring to thaw.

TRACKLIST:
01 "Linger"
02 "Arrowhead"
03 "Blue Jay"
04 "Swords Dance"
05 "Medicine"
06 "Scream"
07 "Night"
08 "Rose Thorns"
09 "Watercolor"
10 "Blink"
11 "Galick Gun"

TOUR DATES:
06/09 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
06/10 - Cleveland, OH @ The Roxy
06/11 - Toronto, ON @ Axis
06/13 - Philadelphia, PA @ Ukie Club
06/14 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

Downpour is out 5/23 via Counter Intuitive. Pre-order it here.