If You Like sombr, Role Model or Dayglow

If you found me through a "fans also like" row under sombr, Role Model or Dayglow, hi. Let me be straight about what you're walking into, because I hate when an artist name-drops five big acts and then sounds nothing like any of them. So I'll actually walk it through. What connects the music, and where the comparison quietly falls apart.

The sombr thread is the one I feel most. That heavy-chested, slightly bruised guitar pop where the vocal sits right up front and a bit raw. A lot of my songs live in that room. "Broken Promise" and "I Need a Friend" are built on real guitar and a voice that isn't trying to be perfect. Ten years of playing live means the guitar isn't decoration on top of a beat, it's usually the thing the song grew out of. If you like a pop song that still sounds like a person in a room, we're already close.

Role Model and Dayglow are more about mood than sound, for me. Role Model has that self-aware, funny-sad thing where the lyric does more work than it lets on, and I chase that, especially on the new record. Dayglow is warmth and forward motion, songs that feel like a good day even when the words don't agree. «5 to 9» has both. Side A is the grind, the hours around the job, and Side B is the escape. So some tracks run tighter and darker, and some just open up and let the sun in. The first single, "Wake Up", sits right on that line.

Declan McKenna and Paolo Nutini are the older loves showing through. Declan for the way a pop song can carry an idea without turning into a lecture, Paolo for the voice, that soulful crack that made me want to sing in the first place. You'll catch more of the Nutini side on the French songs, "Danse" and "Lendemain", where I let the melody bend a bit further. My background is a mix of places, a little Stockholm, a little Geneva, and I think it shows up as songs that don't fully commit to one accent or one lane.

Now the honest bit. I'm not any of these people, and «5 to 9» isn't a copy of a copy. I write mine around a finance day job, so the record carries this specific tension of ordinary weeks and the small windows you get to actually make something. It's a self-released debut, ten tracks, no big machine behind it, just me and the people I trust mixing it between two cities. It's smaller and more homemade than the artists up top, and I'd rather you know that going in than feel oversold. If you love those names for the feeling more than the budget, that's exactly the crowd I'm making this for.

So here's my ask. Don't take my word for the comparison. Start with one of the singles already up, "I Need a Friend" or "Wake Up", and if it clicks, «5 to 9» is the whole picture when it lands. If it doesn't click, no harm done, your playlist is safe. But I've got a feeling that if that alt pop-rock lane is home for you, you'll find a corner of it here that feels familiar and a little bit new at once.