Portland based indie rock band Strange Pilgrim has just released their new single “Late Light”, the opening track from their upcoming sophomore album Too Bright Planet, releasing September 26th 2025 on Royal Oakie Records. Following up their critically acclaimed self-titled album (2022) and recently released Embers EP (2025), the new single finds the band fleshed out with a new lineup featuring Pat Spurgeon (Rogue Wave, Dandy Warhols, Federale) and Elliott Kay.
Led by multi-instrumentalist & songwriter Josh Barnhart, Strange Pilgrim crafts a unique sound that balances introspective lyricism and restless musicality to create something both intimate and expansive. Their music captures a spirit of quiet exploration—thoughtful but never insular, wandering yet profoundly grounded. Thriving on collaboration, their collective experience and distinct musical perspectives shape Strange Pilgrim’s sound—a blend of driving rhythms, melodic bass lines, and textured guitars.
Building on the kaleidoscopic dream pop and psych rock of their debut album, the band spreads their wings on Too Bright Planet–incorporating influences ranging from The Grateful Dead to Brian Eno and The Velvet Underground to create a moody vibe that recalls early 70’s Fleetwood Mac, Luna’s Penthouse, and Jonathan Wilson’s Gentle Spirit. Produced by Josh Barnhart, the basic tracks were recorded live at Bocce Recording in Vancouver, WA, engineered & mixed by Cory Gray (Lee Baggett, Califone), and mastered by David Glasebrook (Patti Smith, Michael Nau, Sugar Candy Mountain) at The Garden Shed in Oakland, CA. The album features guest contributions from Maggie Morris of Sunbathe, Cory Gray of Old Unconscious & The Delines, and labelmate Caleb Nichols.
Whereas the band’s debut album explored themes of alienation and dislocation (the band’s name is taken from a collection of short stories by Gabriel García Márquez), the songs on the new album lean into acceptance, rebirth, and forward movement, inspired by the poetry of Robert Hass, the films of Sara Dosa, Akira Kurosawa, and Wim Wenders, and the art of Gerhard Richter.
“‘Late Light” opens with a surreal portrait of a slow, dragging night shift—those hours when time seems suspended and the end of the workday never quite comes into view. Set in the dim glow of a service job, the song captures the strange intimacy between worker and patron, with the narrator both curating the vibe and quietly observing the flow of people and energy. The repetitive chord progression mirrors the looping rhythm of late-night labor, subtly shifting just enough to reflect the small variations that give each night its own mood. Sonically, it’s a gentle descent—psychedelic and hazy, with swirling instrumentation that wraps around the vocal and harmonies. It eases the listener in, inviting them to settle into a space where the lines between the mundane and the dreamlike begin to blur.”
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