Photo courtesy of the band.
Box Elder releases its debut LP on April 10 via Steadfast Records and Sweet Cheetah Records. It marks a profound evolution for the Salt Lake City-based project. What began as Chris Archuleta’s solo bedroom endeavor during the isolation of Covid has blossomed into a full-band collaboration that captures the raw emotional landscape of personal struggle and growth.
Across these tracks, Box Elder explores the turbulent territory of mental health, charting the ebbs and flows of anxiety, the ache of love lost, and the persistent fear of never quite finding where you belong. These songs are born from four years of experiences, transformed into anthems of vulnerability and resilience.
This is the first Box Elder album shaped by the creative input of each member, bringing new dimensions to Archuleta’s songwriting. The result is a sound that channels the melodic urgency of The Get Up Kids and Jimmy Eat World while carving out distinctly personal terrain. Recorded by Archuleta himself (his first major self-production undertaking), the album balances raw intimacy with polish that honors the emotional weight of these songs.
The striking cover artwork by Stella Vickland-Davis features mannequin pieces controlled by box elder bugs, a visual metaphor that perfectly captures the album’s themes of agency, transformation, and the small forces that guide us through uncertain times.
For fifteen years of making music, this LP represents Archuleta’s most complete artistic statement and a powerful new chapter for Box Elder.
The Box Elder LP is available for pre-order now on limited edition lavender eco-mix vinyl, only 200 copies pressed. Each record features stunning artwork by Stella Vickland-Davis, depicting mannequin pieces controlled by box elder bugs, a visual metaphor for the unseen forces that guide us through uncertain times.
Preorder here.
Another single from the band hits digital streaming platforms on March 6. Look for “Chucklefuck” wherever you listen to music.
Catch the band live:
Thursday, March 5, 2026, Pearl on Fifth, Midvale, Utah
Friday, May 15, 2026, The Sugar Maple, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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