Spencer Radcliffe, a Chicago-based songwriter with a small but vocal following, has a new album—his first for Boston's fertile Run For Cover Records. It's a perfect inward-looking record for fall, just like Duncan said it would be. I can't decide which version of Radcliffe resonates with me most: the guy who's convinced all the worst is yet to come on "World's Disguise," or the one who thinks it's such an exciting time to be alive just one track later. Guess I fluctuate, too.

That sort of hopeful/bummed tug-of-war often makes for the best art, especially when the uncertainty materializes as warm DIY rock full of disorienting quirks, like barely tuned strumming, baby-talk outros, and synths that sound like wind chimes. "I guess I made this album for the same reason I find myself making them again and again—to put something into the outside world that only existed within before, then sit back and admire the mess in front of me," Radcliffe told The FADER in an email. "The fact that other people think that's cool and want to hear that and will sit with that and think 'this is something,' is a blessing. I'm very grateful for that."