Much like gazing at the ocean, there’s a deceptive calm to Jackson Scribner’s sophomore album.
Depression Kids, produced by Stuart Sikes and which drops Sept. 19 on State Fair Records, has a particular undertow to it. The songs roll in and back out again, striking shore with impressive force and catching you by surprise.
It’s one of the most arresting collections from a North Texas artist released thus far in 2025.
Depression Kids follows Scribner’s self-titled 2021 debut. Lost in the gorgeous wash of sound on Kids, conjured by Scribner and his handpicked backing band — his brother, Levi, alongside Jeff Ryan, Jerome Brock, Kim Herriage, Scott Davis and Tony Hormillosa; Frankie Leonie contributes harmony vocals — the singer-songwriter drops elegantly sculpted and harrowing lyrics.
“This time in the studio, I wanted everyone to feel really free to do their own thing, bring their individual them-ness to the part they were playing,” Jackson Scribner said in a statement.
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“Secret emotion/Hand on the wheel/Just keepin’ its eyes on the kill,” Scribner sings on the album’s title track, and on the album’s expansive closer, “Month After Month”: “Loneliness gets easy/When windows are good for sightseeing.”
“I wrote ‘Depression Kids’ on a bunch of sticky notes on my bedroom floor thinking about the different ways I feel it,” Scribner said in a statement. “It occurred to me that no matter what sort of depression people are dealing with, everyone deals with it. Everyone’s in the same giant boat. In a way, although it’s looked at in a negative manner most of the time, it brings us all together.”
Jackson Scribner will celebrate the release of Depression Kids on Sept. 20 with a stacked showcase at Sons of Hermann Hall. Alongside Scribner (and his brother, Levi), Leonie, Angel White, David Forsyth and Matthew McNeal will perform during what’s being billed as “an unforgettable night of music, stories and celebration.”
Jackson Scribner Depression Kids release show at Sons of Hermann Hall, Dallas. 7 p.m. Sept. 20. Tickets are $20.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky (@prestonjones.bsky.social).Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
