Karenin’s Smile is the debut solo dream-pop project from Seth Saunar-Pedersen (Edith Pike, Asbestos, Frontier Days), a Los Angeles–based multi-instrumentalist with roots in punk and hardcore.
Written and recorded in isolation during a frigid Colorado winter, ‘A Wake Up Call for Eager Lovers’ is an exercise in restraint, atmosphere, and emotional distance. Seth executes every element of the recording process, layering chiming, chorus-laden guitars over melodic, steady building basslines. The result is a sound that feels suspended in time—equally indebted to the clean, romantic minimalism of Felt and the cool austerity of The Wake, with subtle nods to Ecstacy and Wine-era MBV.
Tired of waiting on collaborators and driven toward a more pop-oriented sound, Seth turned inward—teaching himself guitar and beginning to record alone after years playing drums. What began as a modest plan to track a short experimental demo quickly expanded into something more immersive. Written during a stretch of cold, isolating winter months, A Wake Up Call For Eager Lovers stands as a document of that period—distant but lingering, moved on from yet not fully left behind. Out now on Dandy Boy Records.
Purchase Cassette: Karenin’s Smile – A Wake Up Call For Eager Lovers
Joyful Union Cassette Resource 