From the hills of Butte, Montana comes the pond, the latest project from longtime songwriter Jon Cardiello and his band: Noelle Huser (vocals/synth), Sandy Smith (bass/guitar), and Kale Huseby (drums/vocals). You might know Cardiello from his earlier work as Bombshell Nightlight or through his and Sandy Smith’s tape label, Anything Bagel. A Year as a Cloud invites listeners into a space where memory and sound intertwine, reshaping the past with each note. Shaped by a lifelong connection to creativity, Cardiello’s music doesn’t follow a path so much as carve one out for itself.

This new batch of songs is built from the small stuff—blurry snapshots, a walk around the neighborhood, a record playing while tea steeps. The writing lives in that quiet middle space—where grief lingers, wandering is allowed, and sadness can sit next to softness without contradiction. There’s room here for stillness and for slowly making sense of things that may never make sense.

If you’ve spent time with Bombshell Nightlight, you’ll hear the same patient pacing—songs that breathe and take their time. But with the pond, there’s more grit in the softness, more weight beneath the quiet. Listeners of Friendship, Hello Shark, Horse Jumper of Love, Mount Eerie, Greg Mendez will appreciate the transparent nature of songs with equal parts lightness and gloom. With each song a compelling story surfaces within the instrumentals; Grief cuts through the lo-fi vocals and raw guitar in “Brittle”; “Into the Room” embraces distortion without sacrificing its quiet depth. 

Cardiello’s evolving sound reflects a subtle progression shaped by the nuances of life’s ever-shifting emotional landscape. It’s shaped by the subtle turns of feeling that come with just being alive. It raises the question, “Where does a song go when it dies?” and forces you to think about the songs that have stayed with you long after you stopped playing them, or the ones that suddenly pop back into your head at the strangest, most unexpected times. Songs seem to live their own lives—they become companions, change shape, fade into the background, then return when we least expect it. But do they ever really disappear? Maybe they just shift, taking on new meaning as we move through different moments in our lives. 

And in these tracks, there’s something undeniably alive. They carry a quiet, emotional weight, filled with questions that don’t have clear answers. “Cup of Lilacs” and “Hungry” take small, everyday moments and turn them into something worth pausing for making those tiny, fleeting feelings, like the sound of a song or a cup of tea—become significant. “Burnt Plant” is a banger for the anxious and ashamed; it’s restless and raw, with jagged guitars and a relentless beat that mimics the feeling of being trapped in your own mind.

The brilliance of this album comes from the band’s unified front, each member perfectly in sync with the spirit of each song. There’s a quiet trust in one another, never stepping on each other’s toes. 

This album is meant for the liminal spaces—the haze before the coffee hits, the hush of 2 a.m. when your thoughts sit a little too close. It’s for sitting in a feeling, watching dust catch light, for witnessing, and to be witnessed.

Listen to A Year As A Cloud premiering here on the ugly hug!

Catch the pond this month in the Pacific Northwest for album release shows with some Anything Bagel labelmates:

• 5/16: Bozeman, MT @ Roly Poly 
• 5/17: Missoula, MT @ Zootown Arts Community Center *
• 5/18:  Butte, MT @ The Carpenter’s Union Hall *
• 5/22: Seattle, WA @ Conor Byrne Pub #!
• 5/23: Olympia, WA @ Decay #!
• 5/24: Portland, OR @ Rainforest Cafe #!

* with Levi Minson
# with New Issue
! with Generifus

You can pre-order A Year As A Cloud now, including on vinyl and a limited run screen printed tape.

Writing and Graphics by Kat Curey