An EP-length cautionary tale about gold records, empty vans, and the symphony inside us all.
For over two decades, the New York-based duo Smoke Ring Days (multi-instrumentalist Rick Eppedio and vocalist Cindy Keyser-Posner) have navigated the serpentine sojourn of indie music with grit, grace, and an admirable refusal to play the pop star game.
Emerging from the ashes of their earlier project, Barbarian Lovers (which caught the ear of Blondie’s producer), the pair have built a rich catalogue defined by moody sophistication and a working-class ethos.
Their latest EP, Dreams Run High, is a masterclass in narrative ambition and emotional rawness.
The EP serves as a fictional coming-of-age saga for Ruby, a songwriter whose journey from adolescent dreamer to world-weary road warrior mirrors the duo’s own nuanced trajectory.
Across four sweeping phases (‘Symphony,’ ‘We All Belong,’ ‘Time Moves On,’ and ‘All That I Wanted’), the music shifts from lo-fi bedroom strums to anthemic, Peter Gabriel-esque global grooves.
The opener details Ruby winning a giveaway guitar, her voice, delivered with aching sincerity by Keyser-Posner, floating over a loping, melancholic folk bed.
By the time the chorus hits in ‘Symphony,’ the band has locked into a driving, Patti Smith-channelling garage rocker, declaring, “We’re in this together, and we all belong.”
What makes Dreams Run High so effective is its refusal of fairytale endings.
Phase II finds gold records and empty tour buses, questioning whether success is “something sold and bought.”
Eppedio’s production is characteristically layered, gritty yet melodic, catching as hell, leaning into Velvet Underground drones and Tears for Fears-scale crescendos.
The final reprise of Ruby’s solo chorus strips everything back to a symphony of one voice and a cat, bringing the story full circle.
This is not a record about fame; it’s about finding community when the spotlight fades. For Smoke Ring Days, that is the truest dream of all.
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