Maxwell Stern releases new EP, announces South Philly live show

This week, Maxwell Stern released his newest EP, Teeth of a Key. The Signals Midwest frontman has been writing music and touring since the early 2000s, but has been steadily recording under his own name since 2014. Released on August 11th, Teeth is a short and sweet two-song EP featuring album artwork by Augusta Koch of Gladie and Cayetana. 

The genre of music Stern creates belongs solely to him; it’s a warm hybrid of slow singer/songwriter with a twist of the punk sound Signals Midwest is known for. Take “Rest,” for example: the song starts with an ambient and airy distortion of noise, but is filled in with lush horns and Stern’s calming tone reminiscent of Ben Gibbard or Slaughter Beach, Dog’s Jake Ewald. The song comes to a dramatic conclusion as the sound ramps up and Stern trades singing for screaming. 

Teeth of a Key follows Maxwell Stern’s full-length album Impossible Sum, which came out September 2020. For XPN’s Sean Fennell’s conversation with Stern, which discusses how Stern embraced his solo identity, click here. 

Maxwell Stern will play his first live show in eighteen months at DiSilvestro Park at 15th and Morris in South Philly on August 26th. Shannen Moser plays as well, with music starting at 7 p.m. He’ll also perform as part of the Open Sound Lansdowne concert series. More information on both is available at XPN’s Concert Calendar.