For Now For Ever (2025 CATBEAR album) – Queen City Sounds and Art

“It’s Okay” finds synth pop duo CATBEAR making a strong yet sensitive statement about self-acceptance. The pace of the song and its typically tonally rich synths are reminiscent of early Ladytron and Pleasure Victim-period Berlin. The touch of guitar shimmer washes bring a gentle texture the song that enhances the mood. When the rhythm drops out we’re left with the warmly comforting vocals and ethereal streaming it’s like an extended moment to rest and relax, to let one’s guard down as the song suggests and to step into a complete sense of self rather than one more edited for arbitrary standards of acceptance on any level. Listen to “It’s Okay” on Spotify and follow CATBEAR at the links below. The group’s new album For Now, For Ever is available now on limited edition vinyl, digital download and streaming.

CATBEAR on Twitter

CATBEAR just released its new full-length For Now, For Ever (out on vinyl, CD, download and streaming) and for a taste of what the record has to offer you can listen to the single “Darkness.” The song begins with some white noise like the waves washing ashore in the nighttime distance. But then the duo’s immersive and rich synth melodies and soulfully melancholic vocals take over seeming to slow dance and sway over the pulsing and accented rhythms. The song seems to be one about people who were in love and parted ways thinking they found someone more suitable and maybe they did but unable to fully shake that earlier connection. It strikes the perfect tone for late night reflection in a certain kind of mood that takes you when you wonder if you’ve messed up but resigned to your choices like an adult. And yet sometimes someone stays in some dark corner of your heart possibly forever and maybe life will bring you back together. The song seems to honor these complex feelings with its emotional atmospherics and intensely evocative melodies. Listen to “Darkness” on Spotify and follow CATBEAR at the links below.