Inland Years: One-Minute Wonders and the Lo-Fi Charms of Nowadays

Some albums ask for an hour of your life. Nowadays, the latest record from Brooklyn's Inland Years, asks for about fifteen minutes, and it earns every second. The album packs thirteen songs into that span, most of them barely a minute long, and the track that best shows why the brevity works is "Morning Train," a 61 second burst of chiming guitar, slide, and folk harmony.

Inland Years is the home recording project of Brooklyn based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Daniels. It began as a song a month project during the pandemic, with Daniels writing, performing, and recording every instrument himself. Before this quieter chapter he played in the screamo band Hassan I Sabbah, which makes the turn toward tape warm jangle pop all the more striking. He has been prolific since the project found its footing, with releases including 14 Songs (2023), Lock & Key (2024), Keep Your Eyes On The Road (2025), The Bunker Sessions EP (2025), and The Meadow (2026).

The project's own bio describes the sound as fuzzy folk and lo-fi pop, songs drifting between 60s jangle and tape worn noise. His site bio places the music in the tradition of Pavement, Lou Barlow, Bill Fox, and Guided By Voices, and that lineage is easy to hear. Nothing here is polished smooth. Melodies arrive quickly, say what they need to say, and leave before they wear out their welcome.

Nowadays was released on July 14, 2026 via the Japanese label BSDJ, and across its thirteen tracks the songs circle love, regret, distance, and renewal, full of characters waiting for trains and driving away before saying what they meant. "Morning Train" turns a familiar New York frustration, the broken down subway, into a small metaphor about choosing your next direction, with a touch of steel guitar in the mix. A CD edition of the album follows on December 1, 2026 through Subjangle and Safe Suburban Home Records.

Start here

• "Morning Train": the submitted track, 61 seconds of chiming guitar and slide that turn on an emotional dime.
• "Only In Dreams": the album's fullest arrangement, built on guitar strums, vocal harmonies, and sprinkles of synth.
• "Around We Go": the acoustic, post breakup jangle that opens the record.
• "A Thousand Miles": a 2010s indie rock sway about longing and arriving at a distant door.

Where to follow

• Bandcamp: inlandyears.bandcamp.com
• Instagram: @inlandyears
• YouTube: @Inlandyears
• Website: inlandyears.com
• Spotify: "Morning Train" on Spotify