Endearments announce debut album An Always Open Door with new single “Real Deal”
Endearments press photo by Rita Iovine
Brooklyn trio Endearments are stepping into their next chapter with the announcement of their debut full-length album, An Always Open Door (pre-order here), due March 6 via Trash Casual. Alongside the news, the band has shared lead single “Real Deal,” a glittering, emotionally charged entry point into what promises to be their most fully realized work to date.
Built around the chemistry of vocalist/bassist Kevin Marksson, guitarist Anjali Nair, and drummer Will Haywood Smith, Endearments specialize in a brand of indie rock that feels dreamy and confrontational. Shimmering guitars. Moody synth textures. And propulsive rhythms carry lyrics that hone in on the feelings of heartbreak. On An Always Open Door, that approach expands into nine tracks of synth-backed, emotionally dense songwriting produced by Abe Seiferth (Nation of Language, Car Seat Headrest).
“Real Deal” sets the tone for the record. Lyrically, the track zeroes in on the painful realization of being treated less like a person and more like an accessory to someone else’s romantic fantasy.
An Always Open Door album artwork
“‘Real Deal’ is a song about feeling like you’re just a supporting player in someone else’s romantic idealization. I hint at Apollo and Daphne in the lyrics and the idea that someone can be so focused on what love ‘should’ feel like that they forget there is a real person on the other end. The music video plays with that concept in a fun way by having our heroine wake up in a strange apartment after what seemed like a perfect evening, but maybe wasn’t as perfect as she thought.”
That tension is mirrored in the accompanying music video, directed by Paul DeSilva, which follows a woman waking up in an unfamiliar apartment after a seemingly perfect night that may not have been so perfect after all. As Marksson explains, the song nods to the myth of Apollo and Daphne. It’s a story about desire, distance, and projection.
Musically, Endearments continue to straddle influences that range from late-’90s emo to ’80s synthpop, with hints of shoegaze texture and big-beat drive. Comparisons to acts like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Camera Obscura, and Youth Group feel apt, but An Always Open Door ultimately sounds like a band sharpening its own identity.
“Real Deal” single artwork
After two earlier EPs, this debut arrives with a more measured perspective. Marksson has described the album as a chance to look back on six years of emotional history with curiosity rather than immediacy, a shift from raw reaction to thoughtful reckoning.
If “Real Deal” is any indication, An Always Open Door may well establish Endearments as one of Brooklyn’s most compelling indie rock voices in 2026.
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