Alvvays

Alvvays' combination of melody and melancholy stirs a degree of passion that's uncommon in the fundamentally modest realm of indie pop. Equally rare is the level of care and precision that the Canadian band's lead singer and songwriter, Molly Rankin, demonstrates in her finely honed songs. Born in Mabou, Nova Scotia, in 1987, Rankin grew up in Canada's most famous family of Celtic musicians. By the time she formed Alvvays in 2011 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, she'd combined that early influence with her love for the winsome, jangly pop of groups like The Magnetic Fields and Camera Obscura. With the band's self-titled debut in 2014, Alvvays found an eager audience for heady, swoony songs such as "Archie, Marry Me". After 2017's Antisocialites saw Rankin add another level of polish to her craft, 2022's Blue Rev marked a more pronounced shift toward the burlier shoegaze sound that had long added muscle and texture to Alvvays' gauzy, rapturous pop.