Mapper

The solo project of producer and multi-instrumentalist Joseph R. Strom, Mapper has matured in texture and tone over the four years since the project’s conception. With influences ranging from the midwest emo and mathrock stylings of acts like Delta Sleep, Dikembe, and TTNG to the shoegaze walls-of-sound that indie acts like Ovlov, Duster, and Mogwai have championed, Mapper is very much part of a zeitgeist of bands that strive for vulnerability and expression above all.

On the Collarbones EP, Mapper reaches back into personal tragedy and desperation over four especially vulnerable tracks revolving around the inevitability of relationships to change or end. The title track begins solemn and resigned, developing in intensity until you reach the catharsis of “Oh No! My Feelings!” a remaster of the original 2019 release. The EP continues with the radio-ready indie jam “Brass Orchids,” inspired by the lead character’s personal journey in the novel Dhalgren, an closes out with an ode to the concept of modern love, '“PVP.”

You can listen to and support Mapper on BANDCAMP and SPOTIFY.