Stress Fractures (Clearbody, Acrobat Unstable) prep debut LP (stream a track)

Stress Fractures is the project led by Martin Hacker-Mullen, who also runs the Acrobat Unstable label and plays in Clearbody. They’ve got singles, EPs, and other miscellaneous releases dating back to 2019, and now they’re set to release their self-titled debut album on January 13 via Old Press/Acrobat Unstable. The album was made with Pool Kids‘ Caden Clinton on drums, and here’s what Martin tells us about it:

Stress Fractures is a collection of songs written over the course of ~5 years about the times I felt lost or confused during my early adulthood, and there was a point in time where I never thought it would exist. I had reached a point where I needed to decide how seriously I wanted to take Stress Fractures, and I chose to make a post that I would be slowing down on this project, but that I had an album written that I would like to one day record and release when I found the right people to make it with. Not too long after that, my friends Caden Clinton and [engineer] Lon Beshiri reached out to me and asked if I’d like to come to Tallahassee and make the album with them as a for-fun project, which I absolutely couldn’t turn down. They were able to help me create the versions of these songs that I have always wanted people to hear, and I’m grateful that I was able to have Jake Checkoway mix and master another release for this project.

We’re premiering the lead single, which is also called “Stress Fractures,” and it’s a very promising taste. It’s powered by a relentless emo-pop-punk backdrop, and Martin switches back and forth between a strained, dirtied-up, shout-sung delivery and clean, sugary hooks. Check it out below.