Madison queer indie pop band LINE released their sophomore EP “The Making Room” on Dec. 5, exploring genres from folk and Americana to dark indie pop with four songs: “No Clarity,” “Nowhere,” “The In Between” and “Show Me The Way.”
LINE currently comprises Madisonian songwriter Maddie Batzli alongside bandmates Esther Chun, Austin Lynch, Emily Mills and Charlie Koz. The EP features Batzli on lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar and harmonies. Lynch plays bass, guitars, trumpet and sings backing vocals. Chun sings backing vocals, Will Ault plays drums, Walker Scott plays lead guitar and Koz is on banjo. Lynch mixed “The Making Room” and Koz mastered it.
“That name has multiple meanings,” Batzli told The Daily Cardinal. “It’s not only about the spaces where we created the songs, but about ‘making room’ for new ideas, new collaborators, new creative processes.”
Even in places like Madison with vibrant and inclusive music scenes, finding accepting venues can be challenging for queer bands.
“It's really, in a positive way, important to say that we are a queer band so that people who want to find music and musicians, artists that they resonate with and art that they resonate with, can find us. Our art can hopefully be like an oasis for people who do identify either as queer or trans,” Batzli said.
“No Clarity” opens the EP with tranquil a cappella vocals gradually joined by gentle acoustics. I hear it as a story about feeling lost after losing someone you love. “Nowhere” responds, promising our memories of love endure, with lyrics like “I’m with you now, I am nowhere else.” This song slowly builds interlocking melodies, drums and a hint of trumpet.
“The In Between” introduces a rowdy electronic sound. It captures the feeling of being stuck and unable to change your reality. Closing the EP is “Show Me the Way” a jazzy description of accepting the past and moving forward. The EP reflects on wandering, reliving memories and finding a path. Ethereal vocals transform into confident rock beats through the songs’ stories.
“The Making Room” is LINE’s second EP, following “Choosing Sides,” a collection of songs released in 2020. The new release deliberately incorporates multiple genres.
“We wanted the project to have a pretty wide sonic and thematic range while also feeling cohesive,” Batzli said.
LINE’s website classifies the band as queer indie pop. While describing LINE’s sound Batzli explained the nuanced experience of selecting a genre label.
“When I say indie pop, that doesn't feel like it fully captures the range of what we do. We have some songs that are basically Americana with banjo, like very singer-songwriter, and then we have some songs that are synth pop, and very kind of shiny and highly produced,” Batzli said. “We have other songs that are more like a live band sound, but definitely still pop-style songwriting, and some even verging into more like indie rock. So I feel like that range of stuff is a little bit what I'm trying to capture by saying it's queer indie pop, but most of the band members are queer also.”
Developing songs is a collaborative process for LINE. Batzli writes lyrics and melodies then the band constructs additional parts. Lynch and Batzli co-produced the new EP, layering electronic instruments and effects. The first tracks were recorded at Blast House Studios in 2022, followed by sessions at Lynch’s Making Room Studio.
“The first half is about loss, change and nostalgia. The second half sounds more upbeat but with some dark twists,” Batzli said. “One of the songs is about sleep paralysis, a metaphor for anxiety and overthinking. The last song is more poppy, about letting go and giving into a crush.”
Listeners can stream the “The Making Room” on various platforms including Spotify, Bandcamp and Apple Music or follow LINE on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok for updates on future projects.
“In many ways, this EP is an invitation for listeners to embrace the full range of their own emotions, since we all contain multitudes,” Batzli said.
