Why Cry’s debut album, How Now, is an eccentric amalgamation of Americana balladry, perverse folk hymns, and cryptic torch songs. The arrangements are exquisitely lean, leaving room for Dukich and Newhards’ sumptuous vocal harmonies to hold the foreground. Recorded almost entirely live over the course of one week, the music possesses a humanistic immediacy, inviting the listener in close to share tenderness and howl at life’s absurdities.

Available on vinyl, CD and digital streaming.