Ears Wide Open: Theo Kandel

Kevin Bronson on August 2nd, 2022

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Theo Kandel writes lyrically potent folk-pop songs that come in two varieties, unplugged and plugged-in — some could soundtrack college house parties, others are better suited for adult-only (owing to the naughty bits) campfires.

His musical journey has taken him from his native New York City to Nashville and now to Los Angeles. He’s a storyteller in the vein of classic ’70s songwriters — he knows when to play motormouth and when to give his imagery and verses some space — and he’s as comfortable holding forth over nifty finger-picking as he is over modern pop production.

After earning attention for 2019 singles such as “Cheerios & Chocolate Milk” and “Everybody Else,” Kandel released the EP “Spin Cycle” last year — as its title suggests, it’s a whirlpool of emotions and styles. His scattershot approach figures to continue on his new EP, “What If It All Works Out in the End?”

“My music is definitely a mishmash of all of my favorite artists, not a groundbreaking notion, but is something that’s always interesting to explore when I look back at my songs,” Kandel says. “The new EP has a ton of influences woven throughout: the (hopefully) witty lyricism of John Prine, folk fingerpicking of James Taylor, pop-punk angst of Blink-182, the chill, feel-goodness of Dominic Fike, rubber bridge and existentialism of Phoebe Bridgers, along with the dynamic production of FINNEAS … A sense of nostalgia definitely runs throughout the entire project.”

He’s released five singles so far in 2022 (plus an acoustic version of one, “Half As Cool”) that reveal those influences. They paint a broad picture of a songwriter trying to negotiate the pratfalls of adulthood. Or, as he sings in “Me & All My Friends Have Got the Blues,” “What a thrilling session for my therapist.”

“What If It All Works Out in the End?” is out Sept. 22.

||| Stream: “Elegy,” “Me & All My All Friends Have Got the Blues” and “Existential Crisis”