Photo by Kosoma Jensen

superviolet – the moniker of former the Sidekicks frontman Steven Ciolek – is in a sense, a state of being in two places at once inside your own head. Revered for his past life as a punk stalwart while moving toward a new chapter where Ciolek’s songwriter is softened around its edges by warm grazes of alternative-country on its shoulders and pop-rock sprites in its steps, the duality of that creative being clasps together on “locket”, the latest preview from superviolet’s forthcoming debut full-length, Infinite Spring. This is Ciolek warring with his own doubts at their most extra while inviting in that hard examination. “In love, but alone / Out but in my head I’m still at home / How come all my troubles / Turn into thought bubbles?,” he wonders, behind him a steady crinkle of acoustic strumming and punky pop-folk jamming that helps make some space for all the thoughts he’s running away with. “I’m a locket with my own face in the frame / I’m just one good look / From getting right back in your brain.“ It would appear the train of thought may be a circular one, but Ciolek sure steers it smoothly.

superviolet’s Inifinite Spring will be released April 21st on Lame-O Records.