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Exit Signs is the debut album from Lonesome After Dark. In the tradition of singer-songwriters like Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Tweedy and Elliot Smith, Lonesome After Dark combine the personal with the political, creating an evocative sound that is perfect for Sunday mornings, rainy days, and late nights when the party is over and the house has gone quiet.
Following a time of major cross-country moves and written in the wake of the 2016 election, Exit Signs is preoccupied with the search for home. What does that even mean when we’re more connected than ever, yet can easily be time zones away from family and friends and miles away ideologically from our neighbors?
We're in a transitional time. A dark time. A confusing time. It’s a world of “dangerous clowns,” where our “dark underside” has been exposed. Where home is not a place, but a person. Or people. And sometimes the comforting memory of less confusing times is the best medicine for looking forward.
Todd Norem is no stranger to songwriting. An active participant in February Album Writing Month, he has demoed several records worth of material, but Exit Signs is the first time he’s made a proper record and decided to share his songs with a larger audience.
Exit Signs ranges from the personal (“The Singer,” “Home/Made”) to the political (“Don’t Tread On Me,” “Last Saw You In Eugene,” “This Machine No Longer Accepts Coins”), to the spiritual (“Adam Before The Fall”) to songs like “Wooden Horse Carousel,” which deals directly with a merry-go-round time of indecision. Of wondering where home is, and what it means.